


Doomed

by fanetjuh



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Hellenistic Religion & Lore
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2019-10-11 15:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 57,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17449490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanetjuh/pseuds/fanetjuh
Summary: Hades doesn't know how it happened, but Odysseus managed to escape the Underworld and Hades is determined to pull his damned soul back to where it rightfully belongs. With the help of Aphrodite Hades starts his search at a small college campus, but is Aphrodite really helping him to find Odysseus? Or is she helping him to find someone else?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a NaNoWriMo project and I actually thought it was a pity to let it just rot on my shelves. It's not brilliant, but I hope it's at least amusing and entertaining to see the God of the Underworld fall for a simple college girl.
> 
> The Gods are very loosely based on the Mikaelson family (from the CW series the Vampire Diaries and the Originals) with Kol (Nate Buzolic) as Hades, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) as Zeus, Rebekah (Claire Holt) as Aphrodite and Freya (Riley Voelkel) as Athena.

 

“I need to find Odysseus.” Hades had his arms crossed over his chest while he stormed into the dining room on top of the Olympus. “I don’t know who let him out. I don’t care how he got out. I want him back.” He straightened his back and lifted his chin. He didn’t allow himself to look around. He knew what the Olympus looked like.

It hadn’t changed in thousands of years. The long tables were still filled with the same boring food. The walls were still covered in paintings showing the Gods as far better people that they truly were. Gold and silver and other worthless metal crap covered the pillars and ceilings. Only a human would end up being truly impressed by any of this. And humans couldn’t set a foot on this damned mountain, so it felt like a waste of materials. It was waste of materials if one would ask Hades.

Not that anyone did. No one ever asked Hades anything. Not the Gods, his own brothers and sisters. Not the humans, who feared him more than they should. Not the half Gods, especially since he knew for sure that none of them were actually his. No one.

“I can assure you one thing, brother, Odysseus is not here.” Zeus reached for another grape while he didn’t let go of the diamond wine glass in his other hand. “Last time I saw him he was accompanying you in the Underworld. He must have grown bored of your existence and must have found some way to escape.”

Hades raised his eyebrows and locked his glance with his brother’s. “No soul has ever escaped the Underworld. No soul.” He kept his voice calm, maybe terrifyingly calm. “Many have tried and many have failed.” He took a deep breath. “I am not going to let that wiseacre be the very first. I’m not going to let anyone be the very first.”

Zeus took a few sips of his wine and while he leaned back in his comfortable chair covered in red velvet he let his ankle rest on his knee. “And why, my dearest brother, should this be our concern?” He curled his lips up into a slight smirk and cocked his head. “You haven’t left your Underworld for years, but now one of your precious souls has escaped you all of a sudden need my help?” His grin widened. “I can throw a thunderstorm, but I am afraid that your escaped soul might be smart enough to stay away from those, don’t you think?”

Hades shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. “If that Odysseus found a way to escape my Underworld without me knowing about it, do you think your precious Olympus is safe for him? I wouldn’t underestimate him, brother. A few of us have already done that once and countless people paid the ultimate price for it.” He raised his eyebrows. “That night that many souls died that my wife and I could barely keep up!”

“Ex-wife.” Zeus interrupted him and took another sip of his wine. “She left you, remember?”

“She didn’t leave me!” Hades raised his voice, but as soon as he realized he had he took a few deep breaths. “She didn’t leave me. Her mother needed her help, an extra pair of hands to attempt to fix the damage all those worthless humans are causing to this world, their environment. They claim to fear death and yet they do everything in their power to make living on this planet almost impossible.”

“And how long ago did she leave you again?” Zeus stood up from his seat and with firm steps he walked around the table so he could place a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Was is fifty years ago? Hundred years ago?” He was still smiling while he looked at his brother. “And how often did she pass by for some physical attention from her passionate lover? How often did she sent a love note to tell you how much she misses you? How often did she thinks of you, remind me again?”

Hades bit his lip and looked away to avoid his brother’s glance.

“O, I’m sorry. Of course. She was too busy saving this already dying earth to do so of course.” Zeus pulled his hand back. “Maybe, my dear brother, she is more relieved than sad that she finally had a good enough reason to leave that dark and doomed place of yours.” He placed his hand on his brother’s cheek and forced Hades to look back at him. “Have you considered that maybe your wife and Odysseus have escaped because they are tired of spending their days with you?”

Hades tensed all his muscles and his chest moved up and down rapidly while he filled his lungs with air. “I assume this means you are not going to help me find that bastard?”

Zeus let out a laugh that echoed through the entire dining room. “We can’t always get everything we want, Hades. You have countless souls down there to keep you company. I wouldn’t bother too much about that one that got away, if I were you. Sooner or later he will return anyway.” After his last word Zeus turned around and walked back to his seat. His steps were slow, as if he knew all too well that each minute that passed felt like an hour to his older brother, who felt all the staring eyes of the other Gods resting on him.

“Did you help him to escape? Did you give him the information on how to get out? Is this one of your sick jokes? Are you trying to make me look like a bloody fool?”

Zeus sat down and shook his head while he placed his arms on the rests of his chair. “There is no need for me to make you look like a bloody fool, brother. You are perfectly capable of looking like a fool without my help.” He folded his hands in front of his face. “And now either stop whining and join us for dinner or return to that place where I wouldn’t even want to be found dead.”

Hades took a few deep breaths and bit his lip.

He had not expected much from his brother. He had never gotten much from his brother, apart from more bad jokes than he could remember. But somehow he had at least expected something.

“I may rule over the Underworld, but you rule over everything. Odysseus didn’t just escape me. He escaped you too.” Hades lifted his chin and turned around. He made sure to stamp on the marble floors and he slammed the door behind him when he entered the hallway. His eyes hurt because they were not used to the huge amount of sunlight. Or maybe they hurt because the one time he asked for his brother’s help, he was shoved aside as if he meant nothing to him. Maybe he indeed didn’t. Maybe he was only good enough to watch that one part of the earth Zeus couldn’t care less about himself. Maybe Hades was only good enough to keep the souls of those whose lives had already ended company.

“Hades?”

He looked up when he heard a clear and high pitched voice almost managing to make his simple name sound like a song.

“You do know that Zeus isn’t the only God here on the Olympus, do you?” Aphrodite leaned casually against one of the walls. Her beautiful long blond hair curled around her face and almost reached her hips. Her lips were redder than could be natural and her piercing blue eyes seemed to attempt to look straight into his dark soul.

“He was the only one that talked in that room, if I remember correctly.” Hades’ lips were forming a straight line. “All those other Gods were simply watching how he acted like I was nothing but an annoying bug circling around his head.” He raised his eyebrows. “Congratulations, he has just managed to drive me away.”

“Come on!” Aphrodite shook her head while she walked towards him. “You shouldn’t let him get to you this easily.” She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “There are countless things you can say to him that easily outweigh everything he can say about you.” She paused for a moment and pulled her brother a little closer towards her. “After all, he is so afraid of his own wife that he is even willing to turn himself into a cow to get another girl to love him.” She raised her eyebrows. “If you ask me, he could use my help a lot more than you do. All you need to do is leave that place of yours a little more often and I’m sure that in no time you will have another pretty lady at your side.”

“I don’t need nor want another pretty lady by my side. Once the earth has found its balance again, I am sure Persephone will return to me.”

Aphrodite let out a deep sigh. “O brother…” She shook her head and curled her fingers around his arm. “I am afraid that Zeus was right when it comes to her return. She doesn’t miss you as much as you miss her. She isn’t planning on returning and to be honest, I don’t think any of her plans to save this earth will actually work. This earth is beyond saving. The humans are beyond saving. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad of an idea to extinguish them all and simply start anew.”

“And flooding my realm? I don’t think so.” Hades decided to ignore everything else she said. It was easier that way. It was most of all less painful that way.

“I am sure we can send some help once we decide to combine our thunderstorms and hurricanes and earthquakes and floods.” Aphrodite curled her lips up into a smile. “There are certainly a few half Gods who could be of some use. And I’m also sure we have a few forgotten Gods who have nothing better to do anyway.”

“Do you know what happens if you destroy humanity?” Hades stood still and turned his face towards his sister. “We won’t have any use anymore. Or better said, you and everyone else won’t have any use anymore. I, on the other hand, will have more than enough to do to last a few millennia longer.”

“But what’s the fun of spending those few millennia with dead souls and no one to love you by your side?”

“There is always room for you in the Underworld, if you ever find yourself looking for shelter.” Hades attempted to free himself from her strong grip, but Aphrodite pulled him back.

“I will help you find Odysseus.” She nodded at him. “You have not left the underworld for a few thousand years. The world has changed a lot and someone has to make sure that you don’t end up in trouble while you’re roaming the earth for your lost soul.”

“Who says I was planning on roaming the earth for him?” Hades protested a little and he raised his eyebrows while she curled her lips up into a bright smile.

“Because there is one thing that runs in the family. If we want something, we find a way to get it. You want to get Odysseus to go back to the Underworld. You will find a way to get him back to the Underworld.” She softened her voice. “And I will help you. I’m probably the best option you have anyway. Everyone likes me. Everyone appreciates what I’m doing. I’ve been walking among humans for as long as I can remember and I know everything about them. I might even have an idea where Odysseus has gone.” She nodded firmly. “If you accept my help, I will take you there.”

“And how many favors do I owe you if I accept your help and allow you to come with me?” Hades crossed his arms over his chest.

“For this one time? Not one, brother. I am doing this because I don’t like to see you sad.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to. You can also go find Odysseus yourself. How hard can it be? There are only 6,5 billion people in the world, after all.” Aphrodite stuck the tip of her tongue between her lips.

“If I discover that you are not helping at all or are having any other reason to do this…”

“You will do what exactly?”

Hades waved his finger in front of Aphrodite’s face, but she easily curled her hand around his wrist. “I will figure something out worse than death.”

“I’m sure you will, but you won’t have to. I promise. You’re gonna find what you’re looking for.”


	2. Chapter 1

 

“University?” Hades raised his eyebrows and turned his head towards his sister. “Why would the smartest man in the world go to something like a university?” He cocked his head and crossed his arms over his chest.

“He once was the smartest man in the world, yes.” Aphrodite nodded while she linked her arm with her brother’s. “But that was many many years ago and a lot has changed since then. The entire world has changed.” She let her eyes wander over the students. “We should really get you a smartphone. You’re gonna love it.” She squeezed his arm, but Hades’ lips were forming a straight line.

“I don’t need to get anything in this world. I need to find Odysseus. As soon as we found him, I go back to the underworld. I want nothing to do with this mortal world.” He took a few deep breaths and slowed down. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other now he was surrounded by people who looked slightly older or slightly younger that he looked. But he was millennia older. He had seen the world when it was created. He had seen how over time the human race had destroyed each other, entire cultures, libraries, knowledge. He had seen how each step forward had been followed by two steps backwards or the other way round. He had seen emperors rise. He had seen kingdoms fall. He had seen revolutions. He had seen winners and losers.

Those students had seen nothing. Maybe they had been out of their own state. Maybe some had crossed the ocean and had visited the highlights of Europe. There might even be a few who had visited the temples in the old Greece. None of them believed in the old Gods of Greece, in the ones who did create the world, in the ones who were roaming among them without anyone noticing.

“You’re staring…” Aphrodite leaned towards him. She wore a bright pink dress that barely covered her upper legs and the diamond necklace around her neck was dangling each time her high heels ticked on the pavement. “It’s fascinating, but you don’t stare. Some of those babies are very sensitive to prying eyes. You don’t want to end up in a fight on your very first day among the human race.”

As if any of those humans stood a chance in a fight against him. They were only mortal. They were counting the days until they would put their bodies under the ground. They were fearing the moment their bones and flesh would be burned to ashes. Most of them had nothing to fear.

The underworld was not quite as dangerous as some religions and some people liked to paint it. The underworld was both hell and heaven. It was a place for the sinners and the saints. It was a place for the good and the bad. A place where one was either punished or celebrated.

The Greek Gods knew that no one was perfect. Not even they were. They all had their weaknesses, their failures. They all made mistakes or broke rules. They ignored limits, tried and succeeded or not.

No human was asked to be better than the Greek Gods themselves. But over the years, the human race had proven that every time someone dared to believe that the absolute bottom of morals was reached that someone was completely wrong.

“You’re still staring…” Aphrodite hissed between her teeth now. “They might not be able to kill you, but they are capable of destroying that pretty face of yours.” She stuck out her tongue and greeted a few people who walked past them.

“How do you do it?” Hades shook his head. “How do you manage to live among them without getting annoyed? Without wondering how many more years they need to finally learn?” Hades let out a deep sigh and he rushed towards an empty can that was thrown on the ground instead of in the dustbin where it belonged. “If humanity would learn, then my Persephone would return back home…”

Aphrodite curled her lips up into a smile, but it was not her usual bright smile, not the kind of smile that could light up an entire room or an entire house. It was the kind of smile she only smiled when she felt sorry for whoever she was talking to. She felt sorry for him.

There was no need to feel sorry for him. He had been the one setting his wife free and he didn’t regret it. He had never wanted to keep her locked up in a dark golden cage under the ground. He had never wanted to force her to live a life she didn’t want to live anymore. But he was also certain that Persephone had not left him because of him, because she hated her life, because she felt like she was held captive.

She had left him because her mother needed her.

And Hades knew the love she felt for him couldn’t compete with the love she felt for her mother, for this earth, for the flowers and the animals.

If she had to choose between the birds and the bees and her husband, she would always pick those who couldn’t take care of themselves. If she had to pick between the old white oaks and the Styx, she would choose those who were not immortal.

How could Hades ever blame her for that? How could he blame her for wanting to save the world from the cruel and heartless human beings that acted liked it was indestructible?

If only mankind knew that they would destroy themselves before the sun would die. If only the human race understood that the earth had already existed before them and would continue existing after them. If only those people realised that by taking and taking, they would end up taking their own lives, the lives of their children, or their grandchildren.

“Humans are stupid, yes.” Aphrodite eventually said. She straightened her back and lifted her chin. “They have always been stupid and they most likely will always be stupid.” She let her eyes wander over the crowded grass field. With one knip of her fingers a girl and a boy crashed into each other and a smile appeared on her face when they looked into each other’s eyes and almost stumbled over their own words while attempting to excuse themselves for something that was not even their fault. “But there are those small moments that make it worth it.” She cocked her head and crossed her arms over her chest while the soon to be couple exchanged phone numbers, not knowing that they have just met the person they will share the rest of their lives with.

“I am happy that at least one of us is enjoying this expedition.” Hades rolled his eyes. “I understand you can’t pause your job, but I do hope we will find Odysseus soon. I am not spending a second too much among those creatures.”

“You will have to.” Aphrodite shrugged her shoulders. It was both a nonchalant and annoying gesture. Especially because she managed to stay undoubtedly pretty while doing so. “Odysseus’ soul escaped. His mortal body is long gone. He must have stolen someone else’s.”

Hades let the thought go through his mind for a few seconds, minutes, until he realised that his sister was right.

Odysseus had no human body to return to. And so he had six and a half billion bodies to choose from.

Which meant that Hades might be forced to spend a lot more time in the sun that he actually liked.

Maybe Zeus was right.

Maybe he shouldn’t bother this much. Maybe he should simply accept that Odysseus had somehow outsmarted him. Maybe he should let the soul go, should grand him this one extra life.

“I’ve made an appointment at the registration desk to have you signed up for classes.” Aphrodite grabbed his arm once more and started to guide him towards the giant building in the distance.

The American flag was waving at the top and the walls were spotless white. Cleaning the entire building to make sure it kept its color costed probably more than anyone would ever dare to admit and considering the fact that even though the academic year had only started a few months ago and the walls were slightly blackening already didn’t exactly prove that it was money well spent.

“No one believes in us anymore these days, but at least they do appreciate our temples.” Aphrodite kept her voice light. She had probably signed up countless of times already to pull a few strings of destiny here and there. Actually, she was a slight little bit too comfortable with this whole adventure to Hades’ liking. She almost seemed to experience this all as a game she could play, without realising that the consequences of winning or losing were not simply a matter of honour. She was right about one thing though.

Whoever built this university had admired their temples. Huge pillars were towering over them and three stairs separated the entrance from the ground surrounding it. The front door however was made of movable glass that opened as soon as anyone came near enough to trigger the sensor.

“Wait…” Hades furrowed his eyebrows when they entered the building. “Did you just seriously say that you made an appointment to sign me up for classes? What exactly are we signing me up for?” He didn’t like the sound of his footsteps echoing through the huge hall. He also didn’t like the overwhelming amount of other sounds.

“Do you want to find Odysseus or not?” Aphrodite stood still and she turned towards him. “I am fairly certain he is here.” She lifted her chin a little and while she crossed her arms over her chest she pushed her breasts up a little. “But there are quite a few students enrolled here and if we want to discover who’s body Odysseus is borrowing, we will have to blend in.”

Hades let those last few words sink in. Blend in. How was he gonna do that? He was the God of the underworld! He had not left his place for as long as he could remember and he had actually liked it that way. “Are you implying that I will have to actually attend classes and share a dorm with stranger?”

“That’s exactly what I’m implying, yes.” Aphrodite placed a hand on his shoulder. “And you better appreciate all the hard work I’ve done for you. It’s not easy these days to earn a spot here. I might have written a few cheques to even make them consider it and I had to add a few talents to your curriculum vitae to convince them that they would be fools to not let you start, even though the first two months of the year have already passed.”

“Remind me next time when I need help that I should ask for details on the plan.” Hades took a deep breath. He loved his sister. He loved her more than he loved any of his other siblings, which was mostly due to the fact that she was at least attempting to help him, although she had some strange definitions of the word help, and the fact that most of his brothers weren’t exactly fond of him.

Partly that was probably his own fault. He had disappeared the moment they had assigned him the underworld. He had enjoyed the quietness and the silence. And most of all he had taken his task very seriously, much more seriously than Zeus had taken his at least. He had not abandoned his job because of some young maiden that was way too young to fall for already. He had not used his powers to win hearts that weren’t his to keep anyway. He had not sacrificed his marriage for short adventures and a few minutes of pleasure and joy. He had not left his post, because there was simply too much work to do.

What would happen to the underworld without him?

It was something he’d rather not think about. It was something that could convince him that this one task was not important, was meaningless, was not worth the time and energy.

Maybe he indeed shared some of the family traits. Maybe this greed for honour, for a clean slate when it came to escaped souls, was his weakness. Maybe this was the one thing his siblings would laugh about for millennia to come, how Hades had considered one soul more important than all his tasks. How Hades had considered one soul more important than anything else in the world.

“I did tell them that you want to study Ancient Greek and Roman studies. That shouldn’t be too hard, don’t you think?” Aphrodite squeezed his hand. “At least it would explain your horrible old fashioned way of speaking.”

“Any other things I need to know before we go in there?” Hades felt the palms of his hands slightly sweating. “Any more lies I need to remember to make sure I don’t look and sound like the fool I’m certainly not?”

“Why don’t you keep your mouth shut?” Aphrodite blinked a few times and the electric light glimmered in her bright blue eyes. “The less you say, the less likely you mess something up.”

“The world needs to end before I hand the complete control over my life over to you, sister.” Hades shook his head. “I want to study Ancient Greek and Roman studies. I’m fluent in both Greek and Latin. I have visited both Athens and Rome. My parents have a lot of money, therefore the generous donations. You are my sister and…” Hades paused for a moment. “What do you study, actually?”

“Organic chemistry of natural products.” She didn’t hesitate once, probably because she had answered this question countless times before already.

“I am afraid I won’t remember that, but it won’t be too hard to associate you with chemistry of any sorts.” Hades rolled his eyes. “I propose we go to that appointment before I change my mind then.”

“This is how you’re gonna find what you’re looking for, brother. Trust me.”

He didn’t trust her. He didn’t trust her at all. But he did follow her towards the waiting area in front of the gigantic desk with golden plaquettes above it that stated that this was the administration office.

“Good morning, what can I do to help you?” A pretty red haired girl smiled a bright smile. She had her hands loosely on the counter and she cocked her head slightly when he took a little longer to answer than any other person would.

“He has an appointment to register.” Aphrodite placed both her hands on his shoulders. “Aiden Douglas, from Olympia in Greece.” Her voice was soft, softer than she ever spoke to him. “He had some trouble getting here in time, but he has an excellent resume so they are willing to let him start late.”

Hades rolled his eyes. As a God he was obviously smarter than every human that roamed this earth, but that didn’t mean she had to make him stand out. If he remembered correctly they were actually attempting to blend in and he was afraid that if his sister would build an even higher pedestal there was no chance he would not stand out in some way. “I’m sorry, my sister likes to exaggerate things.” He cleared his throat and he shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

“O, I know that Mary can be full of people. When we met at the beginning of this semester, she couldn’t stop talking about how neat my handwriting was and how wonderful my hair looked.” The girl behind the counter giggled while her fingers moved over the keyboard as if they were dancing. It was mesmerising and enchanting at the same time, especially because the tips of her fingers barely seemed to even touch the small buttons. “I found your appointment and you can walk straight to conference room number five. Mr. Livingston will be there in about five minutes.”

“At what time does you shift end, Kaitlyn?” Aphrodite leaned on the counter and stared at the clock. “Any chance we can have lunch together?”

“O, I’m afraid lunch won’t work out today, I’m really sorry.” Kaitlyn shook her head. “My shift ends at 12, but I have my first class of the day at 1.30, so I barely have the time to get changed and walk there.” She licked her lips and bent her head. “I really really wish I could fit it in somewhere. I really have to hear everything about your short vacation to Greece.” She paused for a short moment and furrowed her eyebrows. “My classes are done at six. If you want, you can come over for dinner?”

“Would you mind if I bring my brother? I know he’ll be absolutely fine on his own, but I don’t want to leave him hanging on his first day already. That would be kind of rude, don’t you think?” Aphrodite giggled and Kaitlyn smiled even brighter.

“Of course you can bring him along! A friend of yours is a friend of mine. I hope that your brother is a friend of yours? You’re not just keeping him company because you have to? Because in that case, I’d gladly make my house a brother free zone. Friends before boys, after all.” Kaitlyn winked and Hades rolled his eyes.

He remembered once again why he preferred spending most of his time in the underworld instead of anywhere around his siblings. Even though he loved Aphrodite, and Athena too although they had spent a lot less time together which he wasn’t too unhappy about, the endless amount of talking about absolutely nothing seemed time consuming and most of all a waste of energy. He didn’t miss the gossiping and superficial rambling about worthless subjects not even remotely interesting to a God who had seen everything and anything in the world already.

“O, no, there is no need to make your house a brother free zone. My brother and I are basically friends.” Aphrodite’s long blond hair danced around her face while she shook her head. “If you don’t mind me bringing him over, I will bring him over.”

“I might be slightly distracted, but I’m still standing within hearing range.” Hades let the tips of his fingers tap on the wooden counter. “If you have anything harming or disrespectful to say, you can do so in my face so I at least know who’s talking about me like this.”

“There is nothing to say.” Kaitlyn shrugged her shoulders. “You are very welcome tonight. Good luck with your registration. I’m sure everything will be fine. Anyone with those notes can probably get anything they want here. There is no way they want to take the risk you will leave them for another university. I’m sure they will think that one day you are gonna be famous. Maybe one day I can even say that I have had dinner with the big Aiden Douglas!”

“Thank you, miss Kaitlyn.” Hades slightly bent his head while he felt his cheeks colouring.

“O, just Kaitlyn. I feel so incredibly old when someone calls me miss! I’m only a student, just like you. I just happen to stand here behind the desk. If you ever need anything or have a question and your sister is not around to help you, please let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Unless you ask me to break the rules. I don’t like doing that, because I don’t have those kind of grades. I’m sure that they’d be less unhappy with me leaving.”

Hades raised his eyebrows and he wondered if this girl was either that nervous that she simply kept on talking because she was terrified of the silence that might occur if she wouldn’t or if she was always talking this ridiculously much. Somehow he hoped it was the former, because he was not sure if he could stand the latter for a long and consecutive amount of time.

“Conference room number five did you say, right?” Aphrodite curled her hand around his arm and politely she interrupted the fairly one sided conversation. “We will go there now to make sure we won’t be too late. We will see you tonight for dinner.”

“I’m already looking forward to it!” Kaitlyn raised her voice a little and Hades forced himself to mumble something that sounded an awful lot like me too, although he was not too sure if he even meant those words.

Luckily for him he didn’t get the chance to think much longer about it. Aphrodite guided him through a maze of hallways and numbers and eventually they stood still in front of what was probably conference room number five.

“What do you think of her?” She let his arm go and leaned against the still closed door. It seemed that the person they had an appointment with had not arrived yet and it seemed that Aphrodite considered that a sign to ask him questions he would much rather not answer.

“She talks a lot…” He hesitated a little and he scratched the back of his neck. “Are all humans like that or is that a personality trait only she possesses?”

Aphrodite curled her lips up into a smile and crossed her arms over her chest. “Although she might not have your grades, she’s actually the youngest master student you will ever meet. She’s studying advanced economics and will probably graduate with another two or three degrees at once.”

“Do you think that she might be…” Hades couldn’t finish his sentence, because his sister raised her eyebrows that high that they almost reached her blond hair. “Of course, I assume he will find a male body to possess, because it might lead to some awkward situations if he would use a female body for his new life.”

Aphrodite dropped her eyebrows again. “I already know Kaitlyn for a few months and Odysseus only disappeared a few days ago. She has always been smart already and she doesn’t need an old commander to control her for that. I’m sure that if you spend some more time with her you will not only get used to her rambling, but you will even like her.”

“Do you think it is really necessary to spend this much time with a human who’s is certainly not the person we are looking for?” Hades cocked his head while the palms of his hands were sweating. “Wouldn’t it be much more intelligent to spend as little time as possible with people so we can meet as many people as possible in a short amount of time.”

“Wouldn’t you want to graduate, little brother?” Aphrodite stuck the tip of her tongue between her lips, knowing all too well what his answer to that question was going to be.

“I never wanted to enrol in the first place. You say we need to do so so I can blend in. I don’t see the use of blending in if we are going to spend this much of our time with the same person who is certainly not the person we are looking for.”

“Normal students have friends.” Aphrodite spoke firmly. “If you want to get in contact with as many people as possible, you have to act as normal as possible. If you don’t have friends, people will think you’re either weird, a freak or don’t like people.”

The latter wouldn’t be entirely untrue. Even in the underworld Hades didn’t enjoy being surrounded by mortal souls that much. Of course, he conversed with them if he had to or if he had one of those rare phases where he did hope that one of the new souls would actually have something interesting to say. Most of the times this ended in utter disappointment. To say that Hades didn’t like people that much, was more of an understatement.

“I know that you don’t like people that much and I don’t say you have to change that. I do say that if you want to be invited to parties, want to get into teams and want to be asked to work together on projects, you need friends. Kaitlyn is an excellent friend.” Aphrodite’s lips were now forming a straight line while she cocked her head. “Kaitlyn has been asked to work behind that counter. On top of that she’s doing three different study tracks and she’s passing all of them so far.” Aphrodite took a deep breath. “On top of that she indeed does have many social contacts because of her job, she is a great start.” She cocked her head and locked her glance with Hades. 

“You have it all perfectly thought out, haven’t you, sister?” Hades let out a deep sigh, as if he had not let out enough of them already. “I understand that you have this entire plan in your head that will help us find Odysseus, but I would have appreciated it if you had told me anything about that plan. I could have said no in that case.”

“Technically you can still say no.” Aphrodite stared at her nails, perfectly polished and glimmering despite the lack of sunlight within this building. “But then you will have to accept that one of your precious souls escaped the underworld and that your protection system is worthless. If any other souls hear about Odysseus’ successful escape, they might even give it a try too.”

“Why, my dear sister, are you so determined to keep me here?” Hades whispered, but Aphrodite didn’t get the chance to answer his question.

“My apologies for keeping you waiting.” Mr. Livingston was an elder man with greyish hair that barely covered a third of the back of his head. He wore a black suit and a blue tie. Aphrodite would most likely call him dull and boring, but Hades could appreciate the simple basic style. “I have read your resume and I have to admit we were quite impressed.”

Hades rolled his eyes. He already had a reputation he was not planning on living up to, but as long as Odysseus had not been found he would try to play along as well as he could. “No need to excuse yourself, sir, we all understand that life can be hectic at times.” Hades held out his hand and he tried to remember the name his sister had given him, once again without even telling him about it. “Aiden Douglas, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is ours, Mr. Douglas. Welcome to our small, but hopefully challenging, university.”


	3. Chapter 2

 

Hades tightened his grip around the bottle of wine he was holding. He was wearing a shirt his sister had bought him during the forty minutes they had not attended boring classes that didn’t interest him much.

If he had wanted he could have raised his hand after every single question, but he had not done so. The last thing he had wanted was attracting unwanted attention. His sister had already attracted way more attention towards him than he could handle. And for sure way more attention than would benefit his case.

“Did you hear that girl behind you in class today?” Aphrodite had made her lips even redder than they had already been and her blond hair was now curled and dancing around her angelic looking face. “She thought you were hot and cute. When I told her that you were smart on top of that she seemed very interested in inviting you for that party her sorority was gonna throw.”

Hades frowned his eyebrows. “Sorority? Hot and cute?” He cocked his head slightly. “You do remember that we are mostly here to find that lost soul that escaped my underworld, do you?”

Aphrodite kept silent for a short moment and she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. She wore heels that were even higher than the ones she usually wore and her dress was almost like a second skin locking her body and soul up. “We can have some fun while doing so, can’t we?” She licked her lips, slowly in an almost distracting way and Hades rolled his eyes while he attempted to look away from her. “You have never left the underworld ever since it was created. You must have longed for the human world at least once. Why won’t you profit of being here now you finally have the chance?”

“Sis…” Hades took a deep breath. His jeans, too tight for his liking, irritated a little and he was already looking forward to the moment he could take it off, although he had no idea when that would be. He assumed when she decided that he had socialised more than enough to be believable as a talented young student attending one of the best universities in the area. “I never missed anything here on earth. I have always been happy in the underworld. I had the company of the brightest souls. I had some horrible figures to taunt and torture. I had a lovely wife who was not only pretty to look at, but also pleasant to communicate with.”

“You’ve never longed for a party? You’ve never wanted to get drunk and lose yourself? You’ve never wanted to know what it feels like to be human?” Aphrodite seemed a little confused as she widened her eyes and stared at him as if he was a total stranger.

Maybe he was a total stranger to her. The underworld was no place for his siblings and he was very well aware of that. Everyone considered it to be dark, to be boring, to be lonely. Hades knew that it was none of that. Although he had no libraries, he owned more knowledge than anyone because he possessed the bright souls who had written those famous books. Even though he had no universities, he had the brightest professors who had created half of the curriculum that was nowadays taught. Even though he had no music player, he was in the company of the most famous musicians and could hear them play whenever he wished or wanted. He might not have the ordinary life his siblings enjoyed so much, but he considered his life to be so much better, so much richer.

“You, my brother, are going to discover a whole new world and I assure you that you will love it!” Aphrodite tapped his shoulder and she guided him away from the road they had been following.

The campus surrounding the university building was almost a town in itself. There were cute little shops that were open until eight to give all those students who did attend their classes the chance to gather what they needed and wanted. Giant buildings from ten layers were the homes of each of the individuals walking around here. Most of their dorms were quite small and shared on top of it, but because of his extraordinary talent, and most likely the influence of the Greek Goddess of love and her money, Aphrodite and Hades had gotten an apartment with two bedrooms all to themselves after Hades had complained about the forced human company he was not intending on tolerating.

Aphrodite turned another corner and all of a sudden they stood still in front of the giant entrance of one of those buildings. “Kaitlyn doesn’t own a luxurious apartment. Don’t act like it’s small and messy, okay?” She hissed between her teeth, as if she was afraid that any of the other students, or maybe even Kaitlyn herself, would hear her. “You compliment everything you can compliment and you are as charming as you can and dare to be. Do you promise me that?”

Hades preferred not to promise anything he wasn’t sure he could keep, but eventually he decided to nod, because he was afraid that if he would not agree he would spend the rest of the evening discussing with her why he couldn’t agree to something this simple.

“Perfect!” Aphrodite placed her finger on one of the white buttons next to a handwritten card with Kaitlyn Davenport’s name on it. “We’ve arrived. I hope dinner’s ready, because we’re hungry!” She spoke lightheartedly, as if her voice was an instrument and she was composing a new song.

“You’ll have to be patient for a few more minutes, but if you come up you can at least wait where it’s warm. I’ve turned the heater on and if my dorm mates complain about it, I’ll tell them that we can’t put our guests out there in the cold.”

The door of the building swung open and Aphrodite lead Hades to the stairs leading towards the fifth floor. Their footsteps were echoing through the empty and dark hallway. So many students lived in this building and still it felt like they could be attacked by a ghost at any time.

Hades doubted if their bodies would attract any attention. Somehow he expected there to be a few bodies in the closets here and there. Even he felt a shiver rolling down his spine while they climbed higher and higher until Aphrodite pushed open a glass door that lead towards another endless hallway with a huge amount of bright white doors.

She seemed to know exactly where she was going though. She turned to the left, walked towards the end of the hallway and she stood still in front of the second to last door. Firmly her fist banged on the wood and three seconds later the white door was opened and Kaitlyn rolled her eyes.

“You don’t need to break the door. I know that doors are overrated, but I want to keep mine. This building is crowded by creepy people and the last thing I want is them walking straight into my room to steal something or to do worse.” She raised her eyebrows slightly and her red hair seemed even redder now the night had started to fall. “I hope you like pumpkin soup?” She turned her face towards Hades and her lips curled up into a smile. “We’ve been carving them and I didn’t want to throw it all away so I’ve looked for some recipes. It’s the first time I try something like this, but if it really sucks and fails we can always go to the snackbar around the corner and get ourselves something there.” She kept on talking and talking and Hades had to force himself to not put his fingers in his ears to not hear her any longer.

“Pumpkin soup is fine.” He eventually said and entered her small dorm.

It was indeed messy. The dishes were filling the sink and considering the state of the top plates, he assumed he did not want to have a look at the bottom plates. Their footsteps were visible in the layer of dust that covered the entire floor. Here and there some leftovers from previous meals, it was impossible to say how long ago they had been made and eaten, were still recognisable as what it had once been.

“You can wait in my room, if you want?” Kaitlyn opened another door, a brown one, with pictures of athletes and singers on it. “I didn’t clean it this morning, but I tried to get some mess out so it’s at least okay-isch. I hope it’s okay-isch, because this was all I could do between my classes and you guys coming over.”

“It’s fine.” Hades didn’t know what else to say. He was used to a certain amount of mess, especially since his underworld was not the cleanest place to be either, but humans took the word messy to a whole other level. He was however pleasantly surprised when he noticed how clean her room was.

If she called this messy, she must have been as annoyed with the state of her kitchen as he was.

Her room was painted in bright and vibrant colours. The yellow of the sun, the orange of the twilight, the pink of the dawn. Bookshelves reached the ceilings and even though she had covered two entire walls with them there still were quite a few books that had not found a place in there. Her bed, which was tucked away in the faraway corner, was occupied by stuffed animals in all kind of shapes and forms.

“Where do we sit?” He leaned towards his sister who headed straight for the bed. “There are no chairs? There is no table?”

Aphrodite let out a small giggle. “I already told you that she has a basic dorm. They’re not made to have visitors over. You can either use the ground to sit on, or you can find a spot on the bed. She’ll be fine with both.”

Hades licked his lips and he put his sweating hands in the pockets of his jeans. Somehow he had to admit that it made him uncomfortable to sit on the bed of a lady he barely knew. Even though that lady might have no trouble with it, he had the feeling he was intruding her personal space, something he didn’t want to do at all. Therefore he sat down on the floor and he wrapped his arms around his legs while he pressed his knees to his chest.

“I’m sorry…” Kaitlyn entered the room with a tray and three giant mugs on it. “I wanted to start like an hour ago with the cooking, but my roommate was keeping the kitchen occupied and she kept on saying that she was almost done, even though she clearly wasn’t. I could only start half an hour later and therefore it wasn’t finished when you came. I still have to start our main course, not that it will be very complicated, but still. I thought that maybe you were hungry, so here is the soup already. I didn’t want to keep you waiting any longer.”

Hades stared at her and he dropped his mouth slightly. He had to admit that she mell of the soup seemed quite nice and he was curious how her food would taste. After all, he couldn’t remember the last time he had had human food. He couldn’t even remember if he ever had human food in the first place. If he had to believe his siblings he was not missing that much anyway.

“O! I forgot the spoons! I’ll be right back!” Kaitlyn placed her tray on the floor in front of Hades’ feet and then she turned around to go back to the kitchen. Her back was perfectly straight, she had her chin slightly lifted and unlike most people she placed her heel on the floor before she rolled down the rest of her foot.

“Is she talking this much all the time?” Hades leaned towards his sister who made herself comfortable on the bed.

She had her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap. She was at home here, she felt at home here. “Isn’t it amazing? She always knows what to say and her energy is so inspiring!”

That was one way to put it. It was probably the more positive way to put it.

Hades was not sure if he agreed with his sister on this one.

Kaitlyn was in a way vibrant and alive. She wore a smile on her face that was pure and bright and reminded him of the small rays of sunlight he allowed into his underworld to remind people of what they had lost and would never gain again. She also seemed to walk and move with a certain grace and dignity that no other student here possessed. If she would talk half as much as she did now, she would manage to still say the same things but without Hades losing his interest half way her rambling.

“Yes, she is…” He hesitated a little and he looked up when Kaitlyn walked into the room again.

She carried three spoons and she sat down on the bed next to Aphrodite. “I’m sorry, Aiden, but can you please give me one of the mugs.” She cocked her head slightly and without saying anything Hades grabbed one of the mugs and gave it to her.

“While you’re at it, I would like one too.” Aphrodite leaned back and the lights in her eyes were glimmering while a teasing smile danced around her lips.

Hades sighed, but he did give her one of the other bowls and kept the third one himself. Carefully, like he saw Kaitlyn and Aphrodite do, he filled his spoon with the orange red liquid. He moved it to his mouth and he blew some cold air to it, although he knew that the soup would never be capable of burning him. He was used to the warmth, to the heat and he had grown so used to it that it couldn’t bother him anymore. When he assumed that humans would be capable of eating the soup without getting burned he put the spoon in his mouth and tried to make sense of the overwhelming and confusing taste.

In a way the soup was sweet, that sweet that he wondered if Kaitlyn had maybe used extra sugar to give it this taste. There was also something else to it, something that was less familiar.

He had to admit however that the human food was not as disgusting as he had thought it would be. Of course, it couldn’t compete with the food that was served on the Olympus, but Hades’ standards were significantly lower anyway. He would not voluntarily go to earth to enjoy soup like this, but he didn’t feel the need to go to the toilet and let it all out either. “It’s nice…” He looked up at the red haired girl on the bed and she answered his comment with a bright smile.

“Thank you so much!” She raised her voice a little and some soup splashed into her mug again leaving some dirt behind on her white shirt. “It’s a simple recipe from the internet, because I have no idea how to make pumpkin soup myself, but someone gave me the advice to put some special herbs in it to spice up the taste a little. If you want to know what it was I can look it up for you, but I’m afraid that I haven’t really remembered it, I’m sorry about that.”

Hades kept silent for a moment while he took a few more bites. “No need to look it up.” If he would allow himself to taste the soup a little better he would most likely be able to identify the herbs without her help. After all, he had been married to the daughter of the Goddess of nature. He had tried to gain some of her knowledge.

Had been married.

He realised that for the first time he thought about his wife in the past tense. Maybe his faith that she would come back was shaking, maybe he was afraid that she had indeed left him, maybe he started to accept that the marriage they had was over now. He shook his head. He didn’t want to accept that.

Maybe he and Persephone had not exactly started out well, but they had enjoyed their years together. He had taught her everything she needed to know about the underworld. He had even give her power that was equal to his, so she could decide on the faith of some of the souls, so she could punish or reward those who deserved it. They had even shared some romantic moments together, even though the underworld had no sky filled with stars to accompany them or bright green meadows they could use for a romantic picnic. Their marriage had been good. Maybe not perfect, but good. At least more than good enough for him.

But had it also been good enough for her?

“Aiden!” Aphrodite raised her voice and snapped her fingers in front of his face. “What did I tell about the staring?” She shook her head and raised her eyebrows. She couldn’t downright ask if everything was alright, not without giving away that they were more than an ordinary brother and sister attending the same university. “It’s impolite. Just like ignoring a question from our host.” She pointed towards Kaitlyn.

“What did you want to ask?” Hades cocked his head and emptied the bowl he was still holding in his hands.

“I have more soup. Do you want some more while I start the main course? I can get it for you and then I’ll be gone for about fifteen minutes. Of course, you can also help me in the kitchen if you want, although the next recipe is not that interesting either and I can perfectly do it on my own and…”

Hades wondered at what moment it was polite to interrupt someone. Could he interrupt her even though she was still in the middle of her sentence? Could he simple answer her question even though she had not finished her phrase yet?

“I’ll help you out in the kitchen.” Aphrodite jumped of the bed and grabbed the empty bowl from her brother. “I will give him what’s left of the soup. He has been traveling all the way from Greece and he needs the vitamins a lot more than I do.” She winked and disappeared while Kaitlyn followed her.

Kaitlyn’s steps were slower than Aphrodite’s, but when Hades followed her with his eyes he was once against surprised how graceful her movements were, how perfect, as if she had practiced them all in front of a mirror. She would have been a great ballerina. She had the pretty looks. She had the long hair. She had the smooth skin. She had the posture. And still she had chosen to become a student here.

“Here’s your soup.” Aphrodite returned with a full mug again. “You should look at her pictures on the desk, really.” She nodded at her brother and then she disappeared into the kitchen again.

Hades stared at his soup, at the bowl that was clearly not brand new. Slowly he emptied the bowl, without blowing the soup because there was no one to notice that he was not hurt, even though he should be. Eventually, when the bowl was empty he stood up and did was his sister had asked him to do. He walked towards the desk and one by one he lifted the frames up.

The frames were as colourful as the rest of the room and all in different sizes. Some of them were small, keeping her pictures from when she had still been in primary school. Others were bigger and contained a picture of her and her friends or family. One thing about her pictures stood out. She was always sitting, either on the floor, on a table, on the ground.

Eventually Hades kept on staring at the one picture that really attracted his attention.

Kaitlyn was wearing a colourful dress with flowers in different shapes and forms. The flowers were not really existing in nature and they had smiling faces almost forcing him to smile too. But something about the dress felt off, different. Somehow the dress moved around her legs in a strange way and he frowned his eyes just before Kaitlyn came in again.

“O! You found my pictures.” Kaitlyn stood next to him and she reached for the picture he was holding. “This one was made when I was seven years old. It was the first time in almost a year I was wearing a dress again and it was so weird…” She murmured and then she put the frame down again. “I’m sorry, you probably don’t want to hear anything about my life story, I get it, I’ve told it that often already that it bores me. But, dinner is ready, so if you want to come to the kitchen we can use the table there. It’s a little more comfortable and cozy than the ground and the bed. And I have to sleep in that bed, so I’m terrified someone will spill something on it. Don’t tell your sister that I said that. She has never spilled anything before, but I’m still afraid of it. I know, it’s weird.”

Hades cocked his head slightly. “No, it’s okay. I understand.”

That was what she wanted to hear, right?


	4. Chapter 3

 

“Was that so bad?” Aphrodite was firmly holding onto his arm while they walked back to their own big apartment on the other side of campus. “Kaitlyn is very nice and helpful and every time I think that humans are awful, I remember her. I remember her smile and I realise that not all humans are awful. She’s not.”

Hades didn’t say a thing. The pictures he had been looking at were still projected in the back of his mind, just like he kept on hearing that one sentence echoing in his head over and over again.

She had a sad story to tell, but she had not wanted to tell him that sad story.

He was not used to that.

Usually humans were very keen on sharing their stories, on telling him and whoever wanted to hear it how bad their life had been, how unlucky they had been, how they had the worst life one could possibly imagine. They almost turned complaining about fate into a form of art, a game that knew winners and losers.

But Kaitlyn had not done that. She had not even tried. She had mentioned that she had a sad story to tell and that she was almost certain that Hades didn’t want to hear it. To be honest, since she was not this willing to talk about it, he had gotten more interested in that story than he had ever been in anyone else’s. What story would she tell him if he would ask her to tell it anyway? How bad would her story be compared to all those stories he had heard over the last millennia? She was a student. She was a great student, if he had to believe his sister. Therefore her life could not be totally miserable and she didn’t look miserable either.

“Are you gonna answer my question?” Aphrodite squeezed his arm and forced him to return to the here and now. “Was that so bad?” She repeated her question and cocked her head while she stood still in the middle of a dark and empty ally.

“No.” Hades had to admit. “The company could have been worse and from the horror stories you and Zeus kept on telling, I had assumed the food to be a lot worse too, to be honest.”

Aphrodite curled her lips up into a smile. “I’m glad to hear that.” She stuck her tongue between her bright red lips and squeezed her eyebrows a little. “If I would give you the choice to either go back to our dorm to have a good night of sleep so we can continue our search for Odysseus tomorrow, or visiting a fraternity party in one of the most pretentious houses you will ever come across where we might be able to fight him before we go to bed already, what would you choose?”

Hades wanted to open his mouth to give the obvious answer. Just because he had survived a dinner with Kaitlyn, it didn’t mean that all of a sudden he was ready to visit a party with too many people, with a huge amount of alcohol and too loud music. But when he considered the opportunity to find Odysseus before the night would fall he had to rethink for a short moment.

“That’s not an immediate let’s go home. I call that progress!” His sister seemed quite pleased with herself and she already started to change direction when she continued walking.

“It wasn’t an immediate I’ll pick the party either.” Hades murmured and Aphrodite’s giggle echoed all around them. “Actually, that was not an answer at all, which means that you have no idea which answer it’s eventually going to be.” Hades softened his voice a little. “It can very well turn into an I prefer going home after all.”

“You hesitated.” Aphrodite shrugged her shoulders and she threw her long blond hair over her shoulders. “And since you hesitated I have decided that you don’t get another choice. We will go to that party.”

Hades rolled his eyes. “And what should the God of the underworld do at a fraternity party?” He raised his eyebrows, but he did not actively try to break free and turn around. “Anything I need to know before I will look like an absolute fool there?”

“You will look like an absolute fool anyway.” Aphrodite curled her bright lips up into a smile. “You are not wearing the right clothes for the occasion, but the stores are already closed so I’m afraid that we can’t easily fix that part of the problem. You are for sure still talking in a way no one will understand, which we can’t fix in five minutes either because language has the tendency to evolve and explaining four millennia of evolution to you in about one evening is not gonna happen. But the nice thing is that most students will look like a fool, because they will drink much more than they can handle. You won’t stand out too much.”

Hades was not sure if that was supposed to be reassuring to him or not. To be honest, it made him even more uncomfortable. He was the God of the underworld, he was the ruler of the afterlife. He was responsible for countless souls that had left this earth. He was not purposely lowering himself and making people see him as a fool, just because he had to blend in to find that one lost soul that had escaped his dungeon without an entrance or exit.

Whenever he would find Odysseus he had to ask how the man had managed to escape. Which part of the protection had failed. Where Hades had overlooked a certain route, a certain opportunity. Where there had been a weak spot that Odysseus had abused. The first thing he would do after finding that bastard, was restoring that leak so it could never happen again.

One adventure on earth for about the next ten millennia was more than enough.

He did however not protest when Aphrodite started to guide him towards a giant villa at the edge of the campus. The music reached their ears long before they could see the house and the flashing lights reflecting in the dark clouds above their heads made it obvious where they had to go.

“Where do they get the money to organise a party like that?” Hades raised his eyebrows when she saw the chaos on the grass field in front of the villa.

Young students were begging to get in and denied. Girls in way too short skirts for Hades’ liking were twirling locks of hair around their fingers while they were talking to the handsome looking boys who walked in and out with plastic glasses of beer in their hands. Some people were already that drunk that they had forgotten that this was a public area and that they had to clean their mess after them.

“And could you explain me what exactly the fun is about those events?” Hades turned his head towards his sister, who didn’t seem to be surprised in the slightest bit about what she saw.

Probably she was not surprised because she had been hanging around here a little too long and had gotten used to those disgusting habits humans had never gotten rid of.

The Greeks had be known for their free society, at least some parts of Greece, which wasn’t too much of a surprise if you remembered that their Gods were not quite perfect. Every intellectual had to admit that at least the God of the Christians and Jews and Muslims was a God to look up to. That was a God to admire, who set a certain example. Hades’ siblings were simply a bunch of humans with a little too much power and way too many years of life experience.

Because why would humans attempt to be faithful to their wives, if their ruling God, master of the universe and ruler of the Olympus, had more affaires than one could count on both hands and feet? Why would humans stay calm when someone offended them, when their favourite Gods raged and punished those who dared to cross them, even if they did so fairly? Athena had once lost a bet against a human girl and had turned the poor one into an animal that was smaller than the tip of his finger. Not to mention everything Hera had done to the defenceless ladies who had caught the attention of her husband.

Hades could name quite a few Gods, apart from the sister that was accompanying him, who would feel quite at home here on campus, surrounded by students and people with debatable morals. Maybe this was one of the main reasons he preferred to stay in his own domain. He couldn’t handle the chaos very well. He couldn’t handle the lack of responsibility very well. And he himself had never felt the need to find another woman, or man, to love. His Persephone had always been enough for him and somehow he wanted to think that he had always been enough for her too.

Deep down he knew that a part of Persephone had never felt at home in the darkness, in the shadows, surrounded by dead souls. She had missed the warmth of the sun on her face during the six months she was forced to spend with him. She missed the signing of birds, circling around her head and tweeting in her ears. She missed the smell of flowers filling the bright blue sky, free of dark clouds and rain. She had been there with him, as a faithful wife should be, but there had always been a part of her that was still living above the surface.

He had never been able to reach that part of her. He had not tried to hold that part of her back when she had told him about the crisis and the help she had wanted to give her mother. He didn’t feel the need to keep a woman at his side against her will. He didn’t feel the need to take Demeter’s daughter away when she needed her so badly. He didn’t want to be that kind of man.

He didn’t want to be this kind of student either. He raised his eyebrows while they climbed the grey stairs leading towards the entrance. The villa was built according to the rules of the old Greek architecture too and Hades wished that would help him feel at home.

But there had never been that many temples built for him. And he had never felt at home in one either. If people needed to see him, they had always known were to find him.

Until he and his brothers and sisters had become nothing but old stories people read about in history books. Until he and his siblings had become nothing but myths people read like they were fairytales. Until other Gods had taken their place, until there had been no one left who saw them as inspiring and true.

And yet, they still ended up in the underworld. No matter what they had believed. No matter to which God they had prayed. No matter which God they had cursed. They always ended up with him. And they always ended up realising that they had been following rules they had not needed to follow. They always ended up realising they had judged people they shouldn’t have judged. And it was only then they realised that it had never been about anything they had believed, but it had always been about being a nice person, making the world a little better, one step at a time.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

Hades looked up when a young boy, who was probably barely older than eighteen, blocked the entrance so he and his sister couldn’t enter. “I’m Aiden Douglas…” He spoke softly, barely loud enough to get over the loud music that was blasting from different stereo’s spread across the villa.

“He’s my brother and he’s new here. He’s very talented, so they let him in even though the semester has already started about two months ago. He really needs to get to know people and we need to celebrate that they saw his talent!” Aphrodite smiled once more and the young boy smiled back at her.

Of course he did. Just like any other man on this earth, just like any other male that laid eyes on her, just like even a lot of girls, there was no way he could say no to her. For days he would question himself why he had broken the rules of his own fraternity. For weeks he would blame himself for letting in a stranger just because he was the brother of the girl who got everything she wanted. For years he would wonder if he had been drunk or simply stupid. And he would never realise that he had been looking at the Goddess of love and that she was capable of getting her way everywhere and every time.

“I think your preses will want to meet him. He’s really gonna be very famous one day and if he’s in this fraternity that will be really good for its reputation and the business, of course.”

“Of course.” The boy replied as if he was a little innocent sheep who was unaware that he was being slaughtered here and now. Most of all, he was being slaughtered by a woman he could never have, not even if he had been the King of England himself. “I hope you will have fun tonight.”

“We absolutely will.” Aphrodite leaned in and she pressed a soft kiss on the boy’s cheek. Without a doubt she was making his day and tomorrow he would for sure brag to his friends how that pretty lady with the bright red lips and the lethal high heels had kissed his cheek simply because he had let her and her brother in. “Welcome to your very first fraternity party. Let’s make it memorable.” Aphrodite grabbed two glasses filled with Champagne and she gave one of them to her brother. “It can’t compete with ambrosian, of course, but it will do.”

Hades stared at the slightly sparkling golden liquid. The smell that reached his nose was a little unfamiliar and he wondered if it was the huge percentage of alcohol or all those human unnatural substances they preferred to add to their food for some not understandable reason. Eventually, after he had reminded himself that in the worst case he would simply end up slightly sick but not worse, he took a sip. The taste was almost as strange as the smell had been. Hades wondered if people would have still liked it this much if it had not been intoxicating for the brain.

“After a few glasses you will get used to it, I promise.” Aphrodite had emptied her glass already and she reached for a second one while she made her way through the crowd, not even asking if Hades was still following her. “Let’s go find the preses. If I were Odysseus, I would want a body that’s not just smart but also important.”

Hades frowned his eyebrows.

Why would someone like Odysseus, who could easily get each body available in the world, take the body of a student. Whether or not said student was the preses of an important and famous fraternity didn’t matter, in Hades’ opinion. Odysseus could be president of the United States. Or King of Spain. Or even the Queen of England and Australia if he really wanted to. Those opportunities seemed far more interesting than a simple human boy thinking he was of some importance, simply because he lead a group of drunk idiots at a university campus.

Hades shook his head and with his eyes closed he threw the remaining champagne in his mouth. The bubbles were quite unpleasant, but due to his lack of tolerance towards alcohol he could immediately feel some of its famous effects. While he passed a girl carrying another tray with glasses, he grabbed another glass and once more he emptied it without taking the time to actually taste what he was downing.

“Can you please take it easy, brother?” Aphrodite had her eyebrows raised. Even though she had bottomed up her first glass, she was now only taking small sips from her second glass. “You have not had any alcohol in your life. Your immortal liver might need some time to get over the shock. You don’t need to embarrass yourself within the first fifteen minutes of this encounter!”

Hades rolled his eyes and then he stared at his feet. This whole blending in thing might turn out to be much more difficult than he had hoped and feared it would be. If he wouldn’t drink, he would stand out because he was too boring. If he drank too much, he would stand out because he lacked self control. If he would speak like himself, he would sound too old and too wise. If he would speak like the humans he was talking to, he would sound like a wanna be popular guy. He could only do it wrong.

“You grab another glass and you take small nips. Just ignore the taste.” Aphrodite grabbed a glass for him and she pressed it in his hand. “I will introduce you to the preses now. He leads this society. He determines who gets in and he will decide if you’re worth their time.”

“And what questions will we ask to figure out if this is Odysseus or not?” Hades took a small sip from his drink and had to fight the urge to spit it all out again. “If we are too obvious he will for sure know that we are attempting to find him.”

“He will know anyway.” Aphrodite shrugged her shoulders. “You have never left the underworld before. If you’re roaming this earth and wasting your time on something as human as a fraternity party, something terrible must have happened. The moment he sees you he will know that you’re looking for him.”

“We have to be smarter than the smartest man that has ever lived.” Hades let out a sigh. Even if they would find Odysseus, there was a huge chance they would not manage to recognise him. After all, Odysseus intelligence could easily beat most of the Gods that lived on the Olympus, apart from maybe Athena, and Hades didn’t have the illusion that Odysseus would make the mistake of giving enough information to reveal his hiding place.

Odysseus had most likely not escaped with the intention of being captured soon after again. He had most likely escaped to be sure to live another human life to its fullest.

Hades licked his lips.

Maybe that was the reason Odysseus preferred the body of a student. Those students were young, healthy and had a long life ahead of them. At least, if they would not destroy their liver during those four years or studying.

“Nicholas!” Aphrodite raised her voice while she pressed two kisses on the rosy cheeks of a handsome young man. “May I introduce you to my brother?” She looked over her shoulder and gestured Hades to step forward. “Aiden Douglas. He has just been accepted and will study something with Greek and Roman culture. It’s all very boring, but his Greek and Latin are amazing and one day he’s gonna be really famous because of it.”

“Sounds like it’s my pleasure to meet him.” Nicholas stepped forward and he held out his hand. He was wearing a dark blue suit and in the dimmed light his eyes seemed even bluer than they probably were. Dark brown curls surrounded his bearded face and his posture made clear that Nicholas was not taking his job description lightly. Maybe he was one of the very few humans Hades wouldn’t dislike entirely.

“Aiden Douglas.” He shook Nicholas’ hand and made sure to squeeze a little. He had no intentions of truly challenging this young man concerning his position, but he had to find a way to determine whether or not this was truly Nicholas or Odysseus who had stolen Nicholas’ life.

“You must be quite intelligent.” Nicholas took a sip of his glass of champagne. “The semester has started two months ago already. You will have to work hard to catch up with everything.”

“He’s a natural talent when it comes to languages and knowledge about the culture. I’m sure that within a few weeks he has completely caught up.” Aphrodite smiled and Nicholas let an arm slide around her waist.

“If he is your brother, I don’t even doubt that.”

Hades felt his stomach twirling around. He was fairly certain that this young boy, however charming, was not possessed by the soul he was looking for. He doubted however if telling Aphrodite that would be reason enough to go home and leave this party.

Considering how comfortable she looked in this young man’s arms, this was not the first time she visited one of those famous parties. Knowing her, she had given that poor man hope that this beautiful lady would be the woman he was going to marry, even though she very well knew that she was already spoken for, that she was already married, that she was already someone else’s wife.

“There are not that many people interested in Greek and Roman history and culture.” Nicholas pulled Aphrodite a little closer towards him, but he kept his eyes locked with Hades’ glance. “How did it catch your interest?”

Hades licked his lips and quickly he took another sip from his champagne so he would have a few more seconds to think about the answer. “I don’t know. How does someone decide to study economics or law?”

“Because once you’re a lawyer or famous banker you have more money than you will ever need.” Nicholas curled his lips up into a charming smile. “What would you think about one or two yachts, honey?” He turned his head towards Aphrodite and he kissed the tip of her nose. If the poor boy had not been leading this organisation that considered itself more important than it truly was, Hades would almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

“O! One in Europe and one here in America?” Aphrodite widened her eyes a little and she pressed the palm of her free hand to Nicholas’ hairy cheek. “That sounds wonderful. I would also really enjoy a white villa at the famous Cote D’Azur.”

“You shall have everything you desire. We could also buy an apartment in Monaco where you can invite all those famous movie stars and musicians.”

“And writers?” Aphrodite cocked her head. “I would love to meet a few of the amazing creative brains behind the books I enjoy reading so much.”

“We can start a bookclub, if you want?” Nicholas spoke with a double tongue and the alcohol had clearly destroyed part of his ability to think already. “We can organise events and dinners and invite everyone you want to meet.”

“You are too good for me.” Aphrodite spoke softly and her lips lingered above his. “I’m glad we met.” She now kissed him and Hades turned around to not have to watch it any longer.

He had nothing against love. He and Persephone had always been happy in their own way. But he knew that with Aphrodite it was different. He knew that this guy, his heart, his love life, were nothing but a game she was playing. And even though Hades didn’t feel much towards those worthless humans, he did pity this boy who clearly believed that he had everything in his life ready for his graduation and the next sixty years.

“Do you mind if I walk around a little?” Hades cleared his throat and Nicholas shook his head while he smiled once more.

“Of course not! My house is your house. I will officially introduce you as our new aspirant member during the meeting next Friday, by the way. I promise that we will not make your introduction period too hard.”

Hades tried to smile back politely. “That’s very kind of you.” He exchanged one more glance with his sister. “If I don’t catch you before I’m going home, I will see you there?”

Aphrodite let her finger trace down Nicholas’ neck. “Don’t wait for me.” She turned her head towards Nicholas. “I’m not sure if I’ll sleep at home tonight.”

“I hope you won’t.” Nicholas mumbled and Hades decided that if he would stay one second longer, he would return to the underworld screaming.

Without Nicholas and Aphrodite noticing it, he turned around and left the room. And instead of having a better look at the house, he walked straight to the front door so he could finally spend some time on his own. All those social activities were highly overrated, if you asked him.


	5. Chapter 4

 

“Brother!”

Hades let out a deep sigh when he opened the door of the giant apartment he shared with his sister.

“I already wondered what you and Aphrodite were talking about!” Athena raised her voice and she stood up from her comfortable chair. “You two are going on an adventure at a university and not one of you thinks of inviting me?” She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “This apartment is big enough for the three of us. I wouldn’t want to miss your first trip out of the underworld in about four millennia!”

“Of course you wouldn’t…” Hades dimmed the light and stared at the clock above the fireplace. It was one in the morning already and even though he didn’t need as much sleep as humans, he did long for his bed. “Can we talk about this tomorrow morning when I feel less overwhelmed and annoyed, for both our sakes?” He groaned a little. “I never knew that blending in could be this tiring.”

“Poor you.” Athena let her hand rest on her chest. “Go get a good night of sleep then. We will speak tomorrow. The answer to whether or not I can join is yes, by the way.” She pressed a kiss on his cheek. “I hope Aphrodite won’t mind that I’ll be taking her bed tonight?”

“She’s not coming home.” Hades shrugged his shoulders. “You can use it.” He nodded at her and then he disappeared to his own bedroom. He took off his clothes, smelling like alcohol and sweat even though his presence at the sorority party had barely taken an hour. His hand went through his hair and eventually he lifted the sheets up and crawled under them. The moment his head touched his pillow he fell into a dreamless and seemingly endless sleep.

 

“It’s morning!”

Hades pushed himself up and leaned on his elbows. His eyes were still sleepy and his hair was without a doubt a huge mess. “Have you ever heard about privacy and not disturbing Gods with a morning temper without having a very good reason to do so?”

“You promised we would talk in the morning.” Athena sat down in the comfortable chair and leaned back while she folded her hands in her lap. “It’s morning and I want to talk.”

“I am certain I did not promise to speak to you in the morning.” Hades pulled the sheets up to cover his bare chest. “I promised to talk to you tomorrow. Tomorrow can be any time between the morning and the evening. And strictly, since it was already past midnight when I said those words, I still have about sixteen hours of quietness before you are even allowed to bother me.” He turned to his other side and closed his eyes again, but Athena walked towards his bed and ripped the sheets away from his body.

“Oew…” She raised her eyebrows for a short moment. “The God of the underworld does sleep naked.” She grinned widely and Hades shook his head while he eventually stood up. “I’m sure the college girls will be able to appreciate this.” She turned around while Hades grabbed some underwear and a clean shirt to pull over his head.

“I understand that Aphrodite seems to believe that my love life is her business, but I don’t see why you of all people should feel the need to make comments like that. Have you ever had a man in your bed, sister?” Hades put his clothes on and then he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Although his hair was indeed quite a mess, it was not as bad as he had feared it to be.

“Who says I want a man in my bed, brother?” She curled her lips up into a smile. “And you might want to hurry. I made breakfast. If Aphrodite comes home you’ll have to share it.”

“Did you make a human breakfast or a Godly one?” Hades cocked his head and Athena stuck her tongue between her lips.

“A Godly one, of course. Aphrodite might be able to stomach this human food. I prefer traveling to the Olympus once in a while to get something I actually like.” She closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose while she stood still in the doorway leading towards the small but cozy kitchen. “How could anyone not want this?”

“How could anyone not want to experience the joy of a sweating body on top of you?” Aphrodite opened the door of the apartment. Her lipstick was smeared out all over her face and her hair was one big tangle. Even though she was quite comfortable with her high heels, she seemed slightly misbalanced.

Hades wondered if it was because of the alcohol, the lack of sleep or the sweating male body that had been on top of her for who knew how long. He concluded that it was most likely a combination of all three of them.

“To each their own, sis.” Athena smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you want breakfast? I already told Hades he’d have to share it if he wouldn’t eat it before you got home.”

“I don’t need anything.” Aphrodite sat down on one of the chairs. She placed her elbows on the table and let her chin rest in the palms of her hands. “I do need to know what you’re doing here.” The smile on her face disappeared and she raised her eyebrows while she looked at her sister. “Hades and I were on an adventure together. You weren’t invited.”

“I wasn’t?” Athena narrowed her eyes and licked her lips. “And here I thought that Odysseus and I had a connection and I would be of much use in this whole search.” She shove back one of the other chairs and took a seat opposing her sister. “Unless there is another reason I’m not involved in this.” She cocked her head and used her foot to push one of the remaining chairs away. “I didn’t bring this food for nothing. Can you please eat?”

Hades took a deep breath, but eventually he decided that doing what his sister wanted would cost a lot less time and be less frustrating than attempting to end this discussion or refuse the meal Athena had brought with her. He therefore started to fill his plate in silence and he made sure to take the smallest bites he could possible take so he wouldn’t have to say anything. The last thing he wanted was having to pick a side in this endless banter, especially because usually when that happened a new world war appeared out of nowhere simply because fighting a war between immortals was only fun if mortals somehow managed to get involved in it.

“Father didn’t want to do anything about this matter. I thought you wouldn’t want to be involved either.” Aphrodite shrugged and she leaned back comfortably. She was the one who was at home and when it came to mortal matters she was usually also the one who knew where to start.

On the other hand Athena was right. She had been the one teaching Odysseus everything he knew. If there was anyone capable of outsmarting him, of discovering where he could be, of unmasking him by asking the right questions or seeing through the lies he would eventually undoubtedly build, it was Athena herself.

“I was the one who told Hades that I wanted to help. You could have done so yourself.” Aphrodite yawned. Most likely she had not had too much sleep last night, if she had had any sleep at all.

How long would the party have lasted? How long until the house was quiet enough for the great preses to disappear to his room with the lady he was not going to wed although he maybe believed he would? Maybe it had been four in the morning? Maybe they had eventually disappeared anyway, even though there were still guests emptying the fridge or the left bottles that were good enough for them because they were too wasted to realise that those bottles were not theirs.

“I didn’t get the chance.” Athena kept her lips curled up into a smile, as if not one thing in the world could disturb her, not even her sister and her sharp comments. “You and Hades were already gone when I got the chance to tell my brother that I would love to help him find my little rebellious protegee.”

“We are perfectly capable of finding him without your help, sister.” Aphrodite hissed between her teeth.

“You are for sure going to find him much sooner with my help.” Athena countered easily. “After all, I know Odysseus better than the two of you. I’ve taught him everything, his way of thinking, his way of speaking and most of all his tricks.” She looked at Hades, who was still attempting to pretend to eat so he wouldn’t be forced to talk. “What do you think? Do you want my help with this or not? Are you an intelligent person? Or a bloody idiot?”

Hades swallowed. He could not take another bite without making it obvious that he was refusing to answer. “Aphrodite seems to be quite sure that Odysseus is here somewhere. I do trust her, at least I trust her that much that she wouldn’t lie about something that was this important to me.” Hades licked his lips. “But I do admit that neither I, nor you, Aphrodite, seem to know exactly what Odysseus would sound like, where he would go and how we can recognise them.”

“It seems you’re outvoted, sis.” Athena shrugged and her innocent smile got a slight devilish smirk. “He has just confirmed that he needs me.”

“He said he could use a little help. Not that you can stay and join our adventure.” Aphrodite softened her voice, clearly protesting even though she already knew that she was going to lose, that she had never had a fair chance to begin with.

Athena had come here to stay, bringing not only the godly food as a peace offering, but also her knowledge about the problem that had gotten Hades to leave the underworld and agree to this adventure in the first place. “And I don’t want to miss my brother struggling with the human world, because he has no idea what they are truly caring and worrying about these days. Something I can’t even blame him for, because most humans spend an awful lot of time on things that I can’t see as anything close to important. Are there really people who enjoy sleeping in the cold november winter to gather a new iPhone X, even though they have a phone that works perfectly fine?”

“Do I want to know what makes this iPhone so special and where that X stands for?” Hades spoke lightheartedly in an attempt to change the subject a little.

“The iPhone, you might have heard about it because it seems to be their most precious possession these days, releases a new version every year. Each of them has a better camera or more storage, a faster battery, a better processor for even more complicated apps.” Athena made sure to answer the question before her sister could even open her mouth.

“I thought they had phones to call people?” Hades furrowed his eyebrows, although he could remember a few people who had been talking about their iPhone as if it had been a rare diamond or a bar of gold. He had to admit that he had not listened to the exact details of those stories and after Athena’s answer his excitement about the position the new technology had earned itself had gone from almost non existent to absolutely non existent.

“Hardly anyone uses their phone to call people these days.” Aphrodite was the first to answer this time. “People don’t like talking without seeing the facial expressions of their conversation partner. They prefer sending short text messages instead. Anyone can read them at any time and any moment and you have the chance to actually think about the answer before you’re forced to give it.”

“But if you don’t answer those text messages right away or are the first to not answer at all anymore, you have a problem.” Athena interrupted. “Do you have an iPhone already? Or do we need to get one for you? I love buying a new phone. It’s always nice to see if I can outsmart any of the sellers, which of course I can.”

“No, I do not have one of those computers pretending to be phones yet and to be honest I’m not quite interested in gathering one either. I only want to find Odysseus as soon as possible and then I want to return to the underworld again. I am fairly certain I won’t need that iPhone over there.”

“But you can’t blend in without an iPhone!” Aphrodite agreed with her sister, which was a first this morning and quite a pleasant turn of events. “People will notice that something is wrong with you and the last thing we want is you getting socially isolated.”

“That would be such a shame indeed…” Athena sounded even slightly bored now. “Good, it’s settled then. The first thing I’ll do is helping you to get an iPhone and teaching you how to use it.”

Hades rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Perfect…” He would do and give anything if it would get him back to the underworld as soon as possible. Although he had to admit that he wasn’t quite sure why he absolutely needed an iPhone for that.

“I assume that you want your iPhone to be black?” Athena turned her face towards her brother and leaned a little closer towards him, clearly much to the dislike of her sister. “Unless you prefer to change your image and like rose gold instead?” She smiled an innocent smile that didn’t mean anything good and Hades rolled his eyes.

“Of course, those computers in pocket size have different colours fitting the standard gender roles as well.” He smiled back at his sister. “How I miss the time that rose was considered a harsh and masculine colour a man could wear with pride.”

“You can also buy the rose one and then buy a protecting cover in another color?” Aphrodite leaned towards her brother too, probably because she had decided that either she would try to be part of this adventure or would be ignored until the not really existing iPhone problem was finally solved.”

“If all goes well and this entire mission goes according to plan, it won’t take long before I am back to my underworld. I do assume that also means that this iPhone, no matter how advanced it is, won’t have any cellphone reception anymore, which means that despite it’s technological brilliance it will be as useless as any other object depending on satellites soaring through the universe.” Hades leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Speaking of which, I’ve heard that someone decided to send Juno to Jupiter and his moons, named after the many mistresses he’s had and don’t even deserve to be remembered, to check on him? I can’t wait to meet that person myself. I might personally give him a pleasant and nice spot to honour is brilliant sense of humor.”

Athena curled her lips up even more. “I already thought you’d appreciate it. I might have given the brilliant creator a slight sense of inspiration.”

“And here I thought you actually loved your father.” Aphrodite raised her eyebrows a little and cocked her head, her blond locks circling around her face like a golden frame.

“I can love him while I recognise the mistakes he’s made. I also can appreciate a good sense of humor, even though it might be at the expenses of my father.” Athena shrugged her shoulders. “He did have numerous adventures. He did betray Hera more often than I could count. Those are facts. Not even love can argue with that.”

“Don’t tempt me to give it a try, sis.” Aphrodite spoke softly. “You might be surprised about the power of love.”

“I doubt that.” Athena giggled. “From what I’ve seen love is mostly just plain stupid.”

Hades stood up from his seat. “Well, while the two of you argue about whether logic will triumph love or whether love with triumph logic, I will go take a shower.” He walked through the door and left the kitchen, but he looked over his shoulder once more before he disappeared to the bathroom. “At least we can be certain that no matter what, in the end all those poor mortals die.”

“But their love doesn’t!” Aphrodite stuck out her tongue.

“And we’ve seen that their logic doesn’t either!” Athena crossed her arms over her chest. “Else Odysseus wouldn’t have escaped in the first place and we wouldn’t be here right now.”

Hades shook his head, but he decided not to answer anymore. This was for sure not the last time they had this discussion, just like it had surely not been the first time either. Luckily he had missed most of them.


	6. Chapter 5

 

“How’s your new phone?” Aphrodite took a bite from her sandwich while she cocked her head to look at her brother. “Did you create a gmail already? Or a Facebook? Or a twitter?” She smiled that innocent smile of hers that rarely was as innocent as she liked to make it seem. Somehow Aphrodite and innocence wasn’t a very good combination. Her job was seen as far from innocent and she enjoyed as many of the pleasures that came with it as possible. She always said that she would feel very sorry for all the men if she would deny them the pleasure of her kisses and touches and sweet whisperings in their ears.

Hades had to admit that he doubted if the poor young boy Nicholas would think like that once he would find out that the future he had pictured with her was not going to happen, but that was nothing Hades wanted or should worry about. By the time Aphrodite would end up bored with the poor man, Hades would be back in his underworld. Maybe in the future, hopefully years and years from now, he could tell Nicholas what had really happened, who he had really fallen in love with. Hades knew for sure that could become quite an interesting conversation, if the boy had not somehow managed to meet a woman that pretty that she could make him forget the goddess of love herself.

“Hey!” Aphrodite raised her voice. “I was asking you something and I somehow get the feeling that you are ignoring me.” She planted an elbow in his side and even though he was immortal, he was not immune for bruises created by his fellow Gods.

He wondered how Aphrodite would react if he would bruise her skin. He was certain that she was probably not going to like it, especially not since that spotless and smooth skin was one of her many selling points. He would however give a lot to hear how she would explain to her loverboy how she had gotten that bruise. He would also give a lot to see the boy’s reaction on it, considering the fact that most in love young men were fools and overheated once another man, no matter if that was her own brother, touched their maidens.

Hades had never been much of a fighter. He had not used his fists if he didn’t have to, which was probably why he ended up in the underworld in the first place. He preferred wit. A good conversation. A discussion. And ending up as the ruler of the underworld had not been that bad so far after all.

“I am not ignoring you, sister.” He didn’t eat anything himself. The food Athena had brought this morning had already spoiled the best food Earth had to offer, it had most certainly spoiled the horrible food served here in the cafetaria at campus. Even looking at it made him feel quite sick already, let alone having to think about actually biting in it. “There is not much to say about my phone and even though you and Athena have gotten me this wonderful pink monster, that doesn’t mean I will create profiles on all those social media. From what I’ve heard, it’s nothing but a waste of time and an excellent way to ruin your complete self esteem.”

“The moment you’ll post a naked selfie on social media, I know for sure that your self esteem will only be fed.” Athena placed a full plate on the table and sat down in one of the empty chairs. “What I saw this morning, looked better than anything I’ve ever seen on Earth and trust me, people have tried to impress me.”

“We’re in America, sis.” Aphrodite blinked a few times while she reached for her sister’s hand. “I’m afraid I have to inform you that incest, even among Gods who are practically perfect in every way, is forbidden. I’m sorry.” She tucked a strand of her long blond hair behind her ear. “And if incest had been legal, I had already called dibs before you even arrived here.”

“Of course, because one handsome preses is not enough.” Athena rolled her eyes.

“At least I have someone to warm my bed and if I’m fed up with him, his friends will line up to be next.”

“You do know you don’t need a man to warm your bed, do you?” Athena softened her voice. “An electric blanket works perfectly fine too.”

Hades shook his head and without saying a word he stood up from his seat and started wandering around the cafetaria. He doubted if his sisters would actually miss him. Especially since he had not that many to add to this conversation in the first place.

He had never cared about having someone to warm his bed. He had tried to win Persephone’s heart simply because he needed someone to rule the underworld with him, because he thought that having a woman by his side would make his job easier, because he had liked sharing his power with someone who was smart and noble and just.

Not once had she disappointed. She would have been capable of ruling the underworld all by herself. She had the right amount of empathy, the right amount of knowledge about the human mind. She gave people the time to explain themselves and gave fair chances, but she never presented people with the easy way out. She didn’t give presents, without longing for something in return. She didn’t hand out free passes out of hell without a test that so far no one had ever passed. She had been perfect. Not because she had warmed his bed during the cold winter nights. But because she had been his equal in every possible way. Because she had completed him and the world he lived in.

“Hey!”

Hades looked up when he felt a warm hand curling around his wrist.

“You’re not sitting with your sisters?” Kaitlyn cocked her head and she worn a bright smile on her face that revealed her perfectly white teeth. “If you’re looking for a spot, there is a seat free here?” She tried to phrase it as a question, but something in her voice, a hidden sort of excitement, erased the question mark at the end of her sentence as if it had never existed. “Your next class isn’t in two hours. Your coffee is on me.”

Hades scratched the back of his neck and he let his glance wander over her while he licked his lips. He had actually escaped the endless discussion his sisters were having because he enjoyed moments of silence and started to miss them now he was constantly surrounded by people, but the whole iPhone discussion this morning during breakfast had made him realise that he was not going to blend in if he would not attempt to socialise at least a little. And even though blending in had never been part of his original plan, he started to understand that the campus was maybe not as big as the world, but still too big to find Odysseus right away.

“Unless you don’t drink coffee? I can offer you tea? A frapuccino? Milk with or without honey? They also have amazing hot chocolate. Now I’m talking about it, I might order one myself. The cold wind makes me long for one.” She shove back one of the chairs and placed her hand on it.

“Of course, I would love whatever you have.” Hades let out a small sigh, but he sat down in the empty chair.

“Perfect! I’ll be right back! And I hope your sisters won’t mind it that I steal your attention for a little bit. We didn’t get the chance to talk much, since Mary and I know each other already, but I’d really love get to know you a little better. Mary told me some things about you, but she was a little vague. She wanted me to ask all my questions myself I think. But, be right back.” She walked away with her back straight and her chin lifted. It made her stand out, even though Hades didn’t know if that was the reason she was doing it. Somehow it seemed that this was just her way of walking, her way of moving and he had to admit that it was beautiful to look at.

He stared at the table in the corner where his sisters were still discussing. Their arm movements had grown much larger and their volume had raised too. If he would concentrate, he would probably be able to understand what they were saying, but he had not interest in any word of it. He would hear them again and again and again, especially if this mission would take longer than he had anticipated on, which technically already was the case. After all, he had hoped that with Aphrodite’s help he would have already found Odysseus. Hopefully Athena would be of more use, although they mostly seemed to distract each other.

“Sorry, there was a small line so it took a little longer, but I’ve managed to order two big hot chocolates, I hope you’ll like it.” Kaitlyn placed a paper mug in front of him. Her fingers were bright red and Hades almost wanted to ask if she had burned herself badly, but she blew her fingers a few times before she sat down. “Next time I’ll ask for a double mug, because I could barely hold these and I didn’t want to drop them on the floor. That would really be a waste of good chocolate, because despite the fact that most of the food here is not that great, the hot chocolate is very doable.”

Hades nodded a little absentmindedly and he blew some fresh air on the hot chocolate in front of him. He would not burn his fingers nor his tongue if he would attempt to drink now, but somehow he couldn’t help but wonder if Kaitlyn would be smart enough to notice something was different about him if he would drink before she was capable of doing so. He could always say that he was simply fireproof, which wasn’t that far from the truth, but no human ever truly was.

Usually they ended up hurting themselves anyway, but simply without noticing that they did.

“If you say so.” He blew some more and some more and some more and eventually, when he had seen Kaitlyn doing the same, he lifted his mug up and took a small sip. The hot chocolate had not much of a taste, at least not to him, but he didn’t feel the disgust he was supposed to feel either. He had to admit that the hot chocolate also smelled and looked a lot better than most of the food that was displayed here.

“The men behind the bar are not really cooks. They have no idea what to do with the bread and the sandwiches and usually end up doing the wrong thing, just like most of the students over here, if I’m honest. They do however know how to make coffee and hot chocolate and they have far better materials for that than I have, so I prefer drinking it here.” Kaitlyn took another sip and Hades copied her movement.

“So…” Hades let his fingers tap on the desk for a small moment while he searched for the right words to disturb her endless river of useless words coming out of her mouth. “You’re studying three different things?” He cocked his head and turned his face towards her. “Which ones?”

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. “And here I thought that for once I could be just a normal student like everyone else here, but I see that your sister has already ruined that for me. Look, I don’t like to brag about being smart and such, but I just end up bored if I do only one study and I have a good memory, so I only need to read things once and then I know them.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not that impressive, really.”

Hades couldn’t help but curling his lips up into a slight smile while she almost excused herself for being abnormally intelligent. He had never heard his sister do that. Actually, he was quite surprised that Kaitlyn was friends with Aphrodite and not with Athena. “Of course, I will act like I’m absolutely not impressed. I am still interested in which studies you do, though.” He took another sip from his chocolate and he realised that if he managed to distract himself, the taste was almost ignorable.

Kaitlyn shook her head and bent it to avoid his glance. “Fine…” She hesitated for a moment. “I’m gonna sound like a giant nerd and most people who thought I was cool don’t think I’m cool anymore when I tell them what I study.” She tucked a strand of her strawberry blond hair behind her ear.

“I don’t think my study qualifies to become one of the cool kids either.” Hades grinned and Kaitlyn smirked back at him. “But I somehow have the impression that if some female sorority would hear how intelligent you are, they might be interested in you simply because of the positions you might gather in the future.”

“O yes, they totally are.” Kaitlyn raised her voice. “They’ve tried to get me a few times already, but I just don’t think I’ll fit in with them and I know that I can try and that they’re probably not gonna give me the feeling that I don’t belong because they need me, but still, I think I prefer just doing my work and my studies.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I do economics, English literature and law school, by the way.”

“Somehow I think that still sounds cooler than Ancient Greek and Roman studies.” Hades shook his head and all of a sudden he realised that the mug with hot chocolate was already empty.

“O, do you want another one? I van totally get you one. I have a full scholarship, although I still think it was more of a pity thing, and a job so I don’t really have to worry about money.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I can offer you lunch or diner some time too, but I wouldn’t do that over here in the cafetaria to be honest, because the food here is horrible.”

“There is really no need to pay me another drink or lunch or dinner. I have nothing to worry about either.” He assumed he had a scholarship too, or at least he assumed that was the story he would tell everyone else, but since he was not certain about it he decided to keep quiet.

“But…” Kaitlyn licked her lips and she shifted her weight a little. “What if I want to offer you lunch or dinner?” She cocked her head slightly and she locked her glance with his. Her eyes were glimmering. Maybe it was the sun that shone straight into it. Maybe it was simply because he was sitting so close to her and staring so deeply into them. “I know we’ve barely talked and know each other, but your sister told me a lot about you and so far everything she told me has been right, so somehow I think that you and I could be great friends.” Her sentence didn’t feel quite finished, but Hades didn’t know what else she could add.

“Yes, she said something like that to me too.” He murmured and he curled his fingers around his paper mug, even though it was completely empty right now. “I want to be honest with you.” He took a deep breath. “I have never had many friends before and I might not actually be quite good in this friendship thing. Just like I might be smart, but am uncertain if I will actually be good at studying here. I was not planning on staying here if I discover that it is not what I hoped it would be.”

“Well…” Kaitlyn paused for a moment and she bit her lip. “I see that as a challenge and an invitation.” She raised her eyebrows a little. “It’s not that I have that many friends, not real ones at least. There are a lot of people who want to be my friend. They want to be friends because of how smart I am, because of who I can become or because of my job and what I can do for them.”

“To me that does not sound like friendship, to be honest.” Hades softened his voice a little. “Although it does sound a lot like many humans I have met.” He was slightly surprised that his comment had not pushed her away completely yet. He had talked to more humans than she could probably imagine and he was quite certain that his comment would have worked with almost all of them. “I can’t promise that I’ll be the one true friend you are looking for. But I can promise that I will not simply try to become your friend to profit from it.”

“Does this also mean that you’ll try this friendship thing?” Kaitlyn smiled once more, but this smile was different, more pure, more meant, less fabricated as if she simply didn’t know what other face to pull.

“This means that I will accept your invitations to spend time together while I’m still here.” Hades stared at her for a moment. “And we’ll see what happens from there.” He didn’t expect much from it himself. After all, once he would find Odysseus he would return to his world, where she couldn’t follow him anytime soon, he hoped.

“Here you are!” Aphrodite placed both her hands on her brother’s shoulders. “We were already worried you had somehow gotten lost, but I see you’re in good company.” She smiled at the girl next to Hades. “I hope he behaved himself a little?” She raised her eyebrows in a teasing way. “He can be quite boring at times, but I promise…” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“He has not been boring at all. I’m more afraid that I’ve been boring him with my stories and endless rambling.” Kaitlyn shrugged her shoulders. “I offered to take him out for lunch or dinner soon and not here on the campus, but somewhere outside, where the food is better and actually eatable.”

Aphrodite raised her eyebrows and she shared a short, but a little too meaningful glance with her brother. “My brother is only here for about twenty-four hours and he has already gotten a private rendez-vous with one of my best friends?” She curled her lips up into a bright smile though and she squeezed her brother’s shoulders a little tighter. “Not that I can complain. My sister came over too and someone has to keep her occupied. Whenever the two of you plan your date, I will make sure to keep her distracted.”

“It’s not a date.” Hades shook his head, only realising a slight little bit too late that his words could come across as a little harsh, even though he had not meant them to sound like that. He had no experience on the friendship scale and he had even less experience when it came to such things as dates and romantic gatherings. He had won the heart of Persephone in a very old fashioned way and they had learned to love each other over time. But despite his time in the underworld without ever reaching the surface again, Hades did know that those old ceremonies of kidnapping were not appreciated anymore.

“O no!” Kaitlyn shook her head. Her bright smile was not even trembling and it seemed as if his words had not even touched her in the slightest way. “I never meant it as a date, really. We barely know each other and I’m busy with school and work and I just wanted to be one of his first friends, especially since he said that he didn’t really have many friends. It sounds weird, but I know what it’s like to not have friends and to feel alone. I just don’t want him to feel like that. If you and your sister want to join, you can totally join of course. Although, I was thinking about paying his dinner or lunch for him, which I probably won’t do if you all join. I maybe have not that much to complain about, but I’m not that rich either.”

They were that rich. They could easily pay an expensive meal in a three star restaurant for the entire campus. As long as no one would dare to ask where the huge amount of money to afford that came from. Explaining that they were immortal Gods and basically ruling this world could lead to some very unwanted situations.

“There is really no need to pay for my dinner or lunch either.” Hades stood up from his seat. “I am capable of paying for the both of us and since you have been offering me this drink, I think it is nothing but fair that our next meal will be on me.”

“It’s not fair.” Kaitlyn shook her head once more. She had beautiful white teeth blinking in the sunlight and her eyes were glimmering in an almost blinding way. “This hot chocolate was not that expensive. A meal outside the campus will be at least three times the price of this one mug!” She raised her voice a little and for the first time Hades noticed how high pitched it was. Maybe her rambling had been masking it all this time. Or maybe that high pitched sound fit her a little too well, that well that he had not even noticed it the first few times they had spoken with each other.

“We can of course erase the difference by meeting another time in the future, if I do not do anything that repulsive that you never want to share a table with me again, of course.” Hades couldn’t help but smiling back at her.

Her glimmering eyes, her bright smile, her high pitched voice, her bright red hair. Although she had her annoying moments, especially when she lost herself in a one sided conversation and way too many words to say something that should have been almost simple, she also had something endearing. Especially for a human she was not too bad, to be honest.

“He does have a gently side, it seems.” Aphrodite cocked her head for a moment and reached for her brother’s hand. “I will pull him away now. Before he does or says something that will erase that good impression he has left so far.” She winked at her friend and then she started to walk through the crowd, not giving Hades the chance to say anything else to Kaitlyn, who only seemed to smile even brighter as if those moments amused her endlessly.

“Was it really necessary to pull me away from her?” Hades stood still once they were outside. The late spring sun was warming his face and almost blinding his eyes. He really was not used to the sunlight yet and he doubted if he would get used to it before it was time to return home.

“Yes!” Aphrodite raised her voice. “Because you and I have some very important things to do!” She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest while her eyes wandered over her brother’s posture. “First, you need a set of new clothes. I understand that you were not planning on staying here, but you can’t wear the same outfit to your date with…”

“It’s not a date.” Hades hurried to interrupt her. “I am on earth for a mission and although I am pleased that there seems to be a mortal who is not appalled by my appearance, I was not planning on creating life lasting friendships or even relationships.” He locked his glance with his sister’s.

“Like me? You mean?” She blinked a few times. “I don’t do life lasting friendships and relationships either. Kaitlyn will be absolutely fine without me once this mission is over. Nicholas is amazingly good looking and he will find someone else too.”

“Does he know that already? That he will have to find someone else too? Because I can’t help having the impression that the preses of the most famous fraternity this campus knows might have his entire future planned out already and I am almost certain that he is picturing you in a wedding dress by his side.”

“He’ll get over it.” Aphrodite shrugged her shoulders. “Why don’t you allow yourself to have a little fun? Kaitlyn is an amazing girl and I see that you like her.”

“For a human she is quite alright, yes.”

“See? You like her!” Aphrodite almost clapped her hand in excitement. “You might be a little rusty since you have promised yourself to one woman for such a long time, but I am sure you can still conquer her heart.”

“Only to break it again? No, sister, You and the others might be those kind of people, but I am most certainly not. I will share that dinner with Kaitlyn, but I will not even attempt to create a bond that could be seen or experienced as something more than a superficial friendship between two bright and promising students.”

“Whatever you want, brother.” Aphrodite eventually shrugged her shoulders, her tone clearly implying that she was almost certain that at some point her brother would change his mind about the matter. She hung out with Zeus too often.

And even though Zeus liked to point out that he was simply a man and that most men were pigs, that didn’t mean that Hades had to prove him right.

Hades knew one thing for sure. He was not a pig and he had no interest in becoming one.

“We are going shopping though. I will even ask Athena to come along. She does seem to have some experience with naked bodies after all.”


	7. Chapter 6

 

“I look absolutely ridiculous!” Hades raised his voice and he shook his head while he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing a dark blue suit and a white shirt, but somehow he didn’t quite feel like himself. He felt like he was staring at a total stranger, at someone he vaguely recognised but couldn’t place.

“You don’t.” Athena shook her head while she walked towards him. “You look dashingly handsome, if I may say so.” She placed her hands on his shoulders and let them linger there for a moment. “I don’t admire male bodies that often, but I have to admit that admiring yours could easily become a hobby of mine.”

Hades rolled his eyes and he quickly took off his jacket. “I will have a simple dinner with a student girl who simply wants to be my friend. I might be horribly behind on the current norms and rules, but I do know that for a dinner like that this suit is hopelessly overdressed.”

“Of course it is!” Aphrodite stood up from her seat too. Her high heels were ticking on the marmer pavement and she stared at her own reflection in the mirror before she let her eyes rest on her brother. “And that is exactly the signal you want to give her. You want to make her feel like this dinner is special, like it means something to you. On top of that it will help you to look like the socially awkward nerd you have perfectly painted yourself to be.” She curled her lips up into a slightly mocking smile. “I am afraid that now you’ve created that image for yourself, Athena and I have to exploit it to the fullest.”

Hades let out a deep sigh and once more he let his eyes linger over himself, over his reflection, over the blue suit that was way too modern to satisfy his own taste, over his face that started to look a little too human for his liking already too. “Instead of focussing on my image, the two of you would better focus on finding Odysseus.” He hissed between his teeth, but his usually strong voice was now nothing but a whisper.

“We are.” Aphrodite nodded firmly. “Your reputation will be one of the keys to parties and other secret gatherings and those are the events we need to unmask that brain on the run.”

“You mean that I will need those events to unmask him.” Athena crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head towards her sister. “I’m the only one who knows Odysseus that well that I will be able to spot him in a crowd. You two don’t even stand a chance against him.”

“I hate to correct you, sister.” Hades lifted his chin and straightened his back, attempting to change the subject to the only subject that actually matter to him currently. “I am afraid that I have spent far more time with your precious Odysseus than you have done. I might have gotten to know him too during our long millennia together.”

“We all know that in your case spending time with them means that they are doing their thing while you are doing your thing while you occasionally ask how they are doing.” Athena shook her head. “You might have been in the same part of this world for a long time, but that doesn’t mean you know him that long and that well.”

“I know where we will get our next chance to unmask Odysseus.” Aphrodite interrupted the conversation before it could end in an endless discussion that would certainly end without a winner eventually. “In two weeks there will be a spring ball, hosted by my dear boyfriend.” She winked at her brother, knowing all too well that her words were annoying the part of him that was too loyal for his own good. “Why don’t you find a way to invite Kaitlyn to be your company?” Aphrodite paused for a moment and then she leaned a little towards him. “As you friend of course. You simply can’t enter without a date though, but you can tell her that you want to go and that you would like her to join you so the two of you can get in. I’m sure that a lot more students will do it like that.” She nodded firmly and Hades furrowed his eyebrows and squeezed his eyes.

“Are you certain that just friends are asking each other to accompany them to a ball these days?” He wanted to believe that his sister was right and that this occasion was the way to find Odysseus and to end this adventure, although two weeks from now sounded awfully far away, but there was also a part of him that doubted his sister, especially since he didn’t get the impression that she was much of a help in this search after all.

“I am absolutely certain. Speaking of which.” Aphrodite turned her face towards her sister. “If you want to be there to help us out…”

“I have to be there. Without me that whole ball is not gonna lead to anything useful.” Athena clacked her tongue and lifted her chin once more.

“You know what to then, do you?” Aphrodite curled her lips up into another bright grin. “You will have to find a date so you can get in.”

“I thought that finding dates was your special talent?” Athena raised her eyebrows and cocked her head while she locked her glance with her sister.

“I can make mortals find each other, yes, but I can’t help you. You, my dear sister, are hopeless. So, good luck.” She patted her sister’s shoulders and then she turned her face towards the mirror again. “You however, my lovely brother, have a very good chance of making this work. If she is not bored by you right now, after a few encounters, I am certain she might actually like you after this dinner still.”

Hades shook his head. Once again he wanted to repeat that he had no interest in Kaitlyn in a romantic way. Once again he wanted to assure his sister that their dinner was not a date. Once again he wanted to repeat that he was only doing this to blend in, to look like a normal student, to not stand out in a too negative way, to prevent people from asking questions he couldn’t answer anyway. But he had understood that his sister didn’t want to listen.

Maybe that was what happened when your entire life was about love. Just like he had grown attached to the underworld and the darkness and the silence, Aphrodite had grown close to love in all its different forms and shapes. She had grown close to two mortals falling in love, even though she had already seen it happen for countless times. She had grown close to falling in love herself, even though she was supposed to be happily married. She had grown close to those she cared about falling and being in love, even though they didn’t feel the need to explore such feelings themselves. She breathed love.

Just like Athena breathed knowledge, wisdom and sometimes a healthy dose of war. Just like Hades breathed death, darkness, endlessness and boredom. They had all become the very part they could control.

A grin spread across Hades’ face when he realised what that said about Zeus, about what he had done for all those years. The more Hades thought about it, the more he was certain that those with too much power were only capable of abusing it. He had seen humans thinking they could break all rules and laws, simply because they had more money or riches than anyone else. He had seen Gods falling pray to their own superiority.

The entire Trojan war had not existed if the Gods had not been so stubborn, so extraordinary proud and so keen on winning. Arachne wouldn’t have been turned into a spider, with eight legs and a woven web to live in, if Athena had been capable of dealing with loss or not being the best in everything. And poor Daphne wouldn’t have spent her entire long life as a tree if Apollo had accepted that even being a God didn’t mean that one could have everything they wanted.

And Hades himself? Hades wouldn’t be here if he had not been stubborn and proud. If he had been able to live with one soul escaping his underworld, he wouldn’t have attempted to chase him, he wouldn’t have been here, pretending to be an ordinary mortal living an ordinary mortal life.

All his brothers and sister had known their weaknesses, moments they had been more human than they would most likely ever admit.

Hades himself had always tried to stand above such things. He had stood above pride, above cheating, above stealing, above raping. But here he was. He was away from the underworld, from his Kingdom, from his home, because he couldn’t accept the fact that a mortal soul had escaped, because he couldn’t accept his slightly changed statistics. He was more like them than he preferred to admit. He was more human than he wanted to admit.

“Earth to the ruler of the underworld.” Aphrodite tapped his shoulders, her fingers dancing over his skin covered by a thin layer of fabric. “It’s not polite to ignore the entire conversation!” She pressed her cheek to his and stared at her reflection in the mirror. “If you do anything like this during your dinner with Kailyn you can forget about the ball.” She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, missing his lips barely and then she stepped back. “Maybe we should organise a rehearsal, what do you think sis?” She turned her head towards Athena who had fallen down in a comfortable chair, pretending not to care about anything in the world anymore to mask the fact that she did care.

“What?” Athena looked up slowly. She had clearly heard every word of the conversation, but she cocked her head and raised her eyebrows, forcing her sister to repeat her last sentence. “Do you all of a sudden need my help with something? Is it something I’m good at? I’m sure it won’t work on you.”

“Come on!” Aphrodite rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. “I never meant to offend you! You’re beautiful and you know that!” She crossed her arms over her chest and eventually she walked towards her sister. “You might be a little intimidating, but fine, I might be able to find a guy who wants to be your date to that fraternity party so you can help us find Odysseus.” She reached out her hand and waited, slightly impatiently, until Athena grabbed it firmly.

“Who says I want a man to be my date?” She hissed between her teeth and her nose was almost touching Aphrodite’s. “I think I actually prefer a pretty lady by my side.” She murmured, but emphasised each and every word. “Is that something you can arrange too?” She cocked her head and locked her glance with Aphrodite’s.

But Aphrodite didn’t falter, didn’t blink. She curled her lips up into a smile and wrapped an arm around her sister. “Of course!” She raised her voice. “I can work with any kind of love.” She lifted her chin and straightened her back. “And to be honest, it’s much easier to imagine you with a pretty lady than a handsome guy. I doubt there is a guy intelligent and smart enough to deserve to be your equal. But, there might be a woman for you somewhere.” She stepped back and let the hand of her sister go. “But first, what do you think about a rehearsal dinner for our dear brother so he knows what to do and what not to do?”

Athena paused for a moment, then she furrowed her eyebrows and squeezed her eyes. “A rehearsal dinner?” She paused for a moment and licked her lips. “Let me guess, you want me to play Kaitlyn.”

Aphrodite’s smile brightened. “If you help me to prepare our brother for this dinner, I will find you the prettiest and most intelligent lady I can find. I promise, once you’ve met her you will never ever want to leave her side again. You have my word.”

“We all know that the word of a God can be taken back as easily as it has been given.” Athena answered. “If you don’t keep your promise, I will make sure you and Hades will never find Odysseus. Ever.”

“Excuse me?” Hades raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “Are you now threatening to punish me for a crime my sister might commit? I do have to admit that doesn’t sound fair to me.” He kept his eyebrows up while he cocked his head and walked towards his sisters. “Isn’t there something you can take away from her without also taking it away from me? You might have forgotten about it, but this whole mission to find the soul that escaped my underworld is about me, not about Aphrodite, not about you. That soul escaped my underworld, my kingdom. I am the one who wants him back.”

“Fine…” Athena clacked her tongue. “I will find another way to punish Aphrodite if she doesn’t keep her word.” She curled her lips up into a smile. “Maybe I will kill that human boyfriend of her and all the next ones, just because I can.”

Hades wanted to say that those poor boys also didn’t deserve to be punished for a crime they had nothing to do with, but he was afraid that the only way to punish Aphrodite was indeed punishing those she cared about. After all, he felt hopeless without his underworld, even though he could return there whenever he wanted. He could only imagine what taking away all those things she loved and cared so deeply about would do to Aphrodite. Actually, he preferred not imagining it at all, because it was not quite the pleasant sight.

“You won’t have to.” Aphrodite spoke calmly, almost as if she was singing a song instead of being in a fight with her sister. “I will keep my promise if you will keep yours.”

Athena hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded. “Fine, I will pretend to be Kaitlyn for a little while so our dear brother here can practice with the rules of human interactions.”

Aphrodite clapped her hands and let out an excited scream. “Perfect!” She bounced on the tips of her toes, her shoes that perfectly fit around her small feet glimmering while they caught a few rays of sunshine. “There is a restaurant across the street that is absolutely perfect!”

Hades and Athena exchanged a short glance, but they simply shrugged, deciding that it was probably better to simply let their sister enjoy this small moment of success. Hades already knew that he would not simply take every advice Aphrodite would give him. He didn’t know what Kaitlyn was expecting. He had said multiple times that this was not supposed to be a date, that he had no experience with being friends and that he had no idea how this would work out. He did know however that he wanted Kaitlyn to like him because of who he was, or at least, because of the part of himself he could show her. Sooner or later their paths would cross again and he didn’t want her to discover that nothing he had told or shown her had been true.

She didn’t deserve that. Maybe she didn’t deserve to be involved in this entire situation in the first place.


	8. Chapter 7

 

He had tried to protest against the suit. He had tried to convince his sisters that it was really too much, that Kaitlyn wouldn’t believe that even Hades would show up at a dinner meeting like this. But now matter how much he had begged, his sisters had not given in.

They had bought him the suit for this special occasion and they wanted to make sure he was wearing it. After all, it was not just a dinner date, it was also the moment he would ask Kaitlyn to be his date to the fraternity party.

Of course, he would ask her as just a friend. He would present it as a kind gesture, as a way they could both attend the party of the year without having to find someone to fall in love with within two weeks. Hades was not sure if Kaitlyn would believe him, but he had understood that this party would certainly consist of all the important people on the campus.

If Odysseus was really here, like Aphrodite thought, he would be at the ball, at the party of the year. His host body would have to be there and he didn’t want to attract some unwanted attention by not going. And even if he somehow found a way to not be there, they could figure out who was ill and could start from there.

“Wow…” Kaitlyn dropped her jaw when she noticed Hades standing in front of the restaurant. “If I had known that you would show up in your best suit, I would have hired a dress somewhere in town.” She tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear and then she curled her lips up into a smile. “Although I don’t think there is a dress that will make me look as great as that suit makes you look.” She let her eyes wander over him, almost shamelessly and then she locked her glance with his. “I hope that my simple outfit is still good enough to be your company for tonight? Of course, if it’s not good enough, we can go another time and I can go get a dress and…” She couldn’t finish her sentence, because Hades refused to listen to any more excuses.

His sisters were to blame for this entire situation. They were the ones who had thought that somehow it would be funny for Hades to show up in a suit. Clearly none of them had noticed that it would not only let Hades look like a fool, but that it would make Kaitlyn feel like she was not good enough because Hades, for once, was actually looking like the Greek God he truly was.

“You look perfect.” Hades shook his head and reached for her hands to squeezed them. “I am the one who is slightly overdressed. My sisters took me shopping and they insisted I had to wear this. See it as some kind of bet that I have clearly lost.” He tried to smile, but the smile didn’t completely reach his eyes. “The one who is not wearing the right outfit is me, not you.” He nodded at her once more and the smile on Kaitlyn’s face brightened.

“That’s a really nice thing to say, but I don’t think that’s true.” She shook her head, but she didn’t pull her hands back, like Hades had expected her to do. “You look really amazing in a suit.” She licked her lips a little. “I could have put at least a dress on instead of my jeans, which I’ve been wearing all day already, and I could have worn a clean shirt instead of this shirt that probably smells like hard work.” She bent her head and avoided his glance.

“No matter what you’re wearing, you will still be the better company.” Hades swallowed and then he let her hands go and stepped back. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, for a moment unsure of what to say or what to do. He had forgotten everything Aphrodite and Athena, who of course had not been capable of staying in character, had told and taught him. He had even forgotten about those things that would actually be fairly useful at the moment. He had forgotten how to break the ice, how to deliver compliments, how to take the lead, how to impress her.

“Okay…” Kaitlyn’s cheeks were a bright red and she stared at the glass door that lead towards the restaurant. “I reserved a table, and if they did what I asked it’s a table on the third floor at the widow. You actually have an amazing view from there, but there are a lot of people who know that, so you really have to ask for that spot, else they reserve another spot in the restaurant so the one next to the window stays free.”

“Once again…” Hades coughed and cleared his throat. “This was about the company and not the view, right?”

Kaitlyn giggled and then she nodded. “Right, we were trying to become friends, even though you said that you had no idea how to be one.” She cocked her head and folded her hands in front of her. “Well, for someone who doesn’t know anything about friendship, you’ve been doing pretty great so far. Or actually, you’ve been doing really great so far. Better than a lot of people I’ve met.”

Hades had to admit that he was not sure if that was a compliment meant for him or simply telling about the current standards for people when it came to friendship. He wondered what had happened to make Kaitlyn think this low of people. He wondered who had hurt her that much that even his lack of words and smart answers were good enough for her, better than anything she expected. He maybe would ask her about it someday, once her life was over and they had all the time in the world, once he could be honest with her too. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He swallowed and then he offered her his arm.

For a moment Kaitlyn stared at it, as if she had never seen a man offering her his arm before, but she curled her fingers around it and her lips curled up into a smile. “And here I thought that chivalry was something you only read about in books.” She giggled and her shoes, surprisingly flat considering what most people her age were wearing, ticked on the pavement while they headed towards the door.

Hades might have heard about the lack of galant gestures by men towards woman, but he had not realised that this lack of chivalry had gone this far that even offering an arm felt hopelessly out of time. At least he had already created an image of the old fashioned guy who should have been born in ancient times instead of today.

If only Kaitlyn knew that this was far closer to the truth than what she currently believed.

Hades reached for the door and while he didn’t let go of her he held it open so she could step inside.

“We’ve reserved a table.” Kaitlyn tucked a strand of her bright red hair behind her ear. “I’ve asked for the table on the third floor next to the window, the one I’m always using when I’m studying because the view is so great up there. I want to show the view to a friend of mine, well soon to be friend.” She bent her head and shifted her weight from one leg to the other, even though she shifted it back after a few seconds already. “I hope you kept it free, because it’s one of the reasons I brought him here.”

“Of course, Lady Davenport.” The waiter bent his head. “We’ve kept the table you asked for free. If you follow me, I will take you to the elevator.” He turned around and walked towards the wooden door leading towards the kitchen.

On the door was a sticker telling everyone that it was not allowed for customers to walk through it, but Kaitlyn didn’t ask any questions while the waiter lead them towards an elevator that was clearly not build to receive guests and customers.

“I am sorry that we have nothing better to offer.” The waiter held the door open for them and once they stood inside he pressed on the button with the big three on it. “We have been looking into it, but it will take a few months for the paperwork to be arranged and then it might take another year before we can finally shut down a few weeks to actually have it built.”

“I’m already glad you’re working on it.” Kaitlyn’s cheeks were pinker than they usually were and Hades furrowed his eyebrows while he let his glance linger on her. “I will tell my friends that they are welcome in a year or so then.” Although her words were polite enough, there was a slight bit of bitterness that she couldn’t hide. Or wouldn’t hide.

Hades wasn’t sure which option it was.

“I’m really sorry…” The waiter couldn’t bring himself to speak loudly anymore and his soft whisper was trembling slightly while he watched at the numbers passing by. He was clearly counting the seconds, feeling the tension in the air. “You know I wanted to see things differently. We’re trying…”

“I know.” Kaitlyn interrupted him before he could stutter any more excuses, but she tightened her grip on Hades’ arm. “And hey, this is better than not being able to reach the third floor at all. There are more than enough bars where I can get anywhere apart from the ground floor.”

Hades squeezed his eyes and he furrowed his eyebrows once more. Again he let his eyes wander over Kaitlyn’s body. He stared at her straight back, at her lifted chin, at her steps, perfectly crafted as if she had spent hours in front of the mirror to perfect each and every movement.

“Can you find your table yourself?” The waiter let out a relieved sigh when the elevator reached the third floor. He pushed the door open, but he kept one foot inside to make sure the elevator wouldn’t be able to go down again without him. “I would bring you there, but it’s quite busy.”

There had been no line downstairs and most tables surrounding them were not used or occupied by only one student and their laptop.

He was clearly attempting to interrupt this conversation. Maybe he would even send one of his colleagues upstairs to take their order to avoid having to talk to Kaitlyn again himself.

“Of course.” Kaitlyn smiled a polite smile, but her eyes, usually sparkling and bright, weren’t smiling along. “Thank you for bringing us up here.” She walked past him. Her steps were slow and steady, although, now Hades had a better look he saw how her right foot seemed to shake a little when she placed it on the cold stone floor.

“Thank you…” Hades stuttered while he followed Kaitlyn out of the elevator.

Even though this restaurant was clearly far from perfect, she had not been wrong about the excellent view. The large window, covering a complete wall, was perfectly positioned so one could look over the entire campus. Now the trees and grass fields were bathing in sunlight it was breathtaking beautiful. In contrary to the restaurant itself. The other three walls were spotless white. Not one painting had been attached to the wall to give the room some more playful vibe. This could as easily be a hospital as it could be a restaurant.

“I’m sorry you had to witness that conversation.” Kaitlyn spoke softly while she guided them towards a table in the corner. “I ask every time I’m here when they’re gonna install an elevator for customers.” She let out a deep sigh. “They always give the exact same answer. They are focussing on the paper work, and it takes long, and it’s complicated, and they have to earn some more money to be able to avoid being closed for a few weeks so they can actually install the elevator, bla bla bla.” She rolled her eyes and before Hades could shove back her chair she already sat down. “They’re just making up excuses. They probably think it’s perfectly fine for those who have no choice to use the kitchen elevator that’s actually used for food and not people. Why would you invest in an elevator when the biggest part of the people that come here is capable of walking the stairs without problems?” She shrugged her shoulders and she reached for the menu.

The menu was almost as boring as the restaurant itself. It was nothing but an ordinary word document printed on white paper and folded in half. One glass of water would destroy it completely. Either this restaurant didn’t have much money to invest or they were simply not willing to use their earned money for customer service.

Hades stared at Kaitlyn for a moment. The obvious question why she was not capable of walking stairs was burning on his lips, on the tip of his tongue even, but he didn’t dare to ask it out loud. He wanted to become friends with her, but they were still in this phase where they were not even sure if they could be friends. He was still in the phase where he wasn’t sure if he should promise her a friendship he maybe couldn’t fully give her. After all, once he would find Odysseus, he would bring him back to the underworld and would stay there. Aphrodite might be planning on staying for a while, but he wasn’t. He simply was on a mission and once that mission was completed he would go home. And he hoped that Kaitlyn wouldn’t be able to follow him there for a very long time.

“I don’t want to bother you with my sad life story tonight, so let’s change the subject.” Kaitlyn used her foot to push away his chair and rapidly Hades sat down, realising that it was quite unusual that he was still standing while she was already sitting. “The menu here is as simple as everything else, but it’s much better than everything you can get on the campus. They are not really willing to invest in anything, but they have a good cook who is probably wasting his talents in this kitchen and who deserves a far better restaurant. I can recommend the burger, or the saté, or basically everything on the menu.”

Hades let his eyes wander over the words. He scanned the different dishes and he had to admit that not one of them sounded actually quite pleasant to eat, but he would order what she would order, assuming that she would pick the best offer. “This dinner is on me. You can have whatever you want to have and there is absolutely no need to look at the price.” Hades took a few deep breaths. He wanted to be sure that Kaitlyn wouldn’t be holding back simply because she didn’t want to empty his wallet. Of course she couldn’t know, but his wallet was endless. It had no beginning and it had no end and no matter where they would eat, what she would order, he would always be able to pay it.

“O, I always order the same thing here and I usually just check if they still have it.” She threw her hair over her shoulder and she turned her face to enjoy the view for a short moment. “I have a fresh mint tea, which smells amazing although I know that a few of my classmates hate it. I don’t really like them, so sometimes I order it just because I know that it will annoy them. I know, that’s just mean…” She bent her head and her fingers tapped on the wooden table.

The restaurant had not even decorated the table. It was simply the plain dark wood, the pepper and the salt. There was no flower. There was no candle. The forks and the knives weren’t placed anywhere yet and there was nothing that could make this place a little cozy. Which was probably part of its success. It served good food for a quite reasonable price and there were little to no distractions apart from the view when you’ve gathered a table on the third floor. It was the perfect place to study for an upcoming exam, without being disturbed and without feeling the need to do something else. Even studying became an interesting option in this environment.

“We all have our mean moments, don’t we?” Hades thought about the Gods, about his siblings, about all the mean things they had done and would do in the future. He thought about all the women Zeus had fallen in love with, those who had fallen in love with him too despite the fact that they could never have him, those who had not loved him back and had been forced to cross lines they had never thought they would cross. He thought about all the people who had dared to challenge Athena, about their fate, how they had regretted thinking to be better than a goddess, how they had probably regretted actually being better than a goddess. He thought of all the men Aphrodite had kissed, had loved, had made believe that they stood a chance, that they could share a future, a life, a marriage. “It’s only human.”

Kaitlyn twirled a strand of hair behind her finger and she absentmindedly ordered her mint tea when a servant, another one then the waiter who had brought them up here, came to ask what they liked to have. She told him they needed some more time to check the menu, even though she had already decided and Hades had already decided to have the same dish as her. Something she couldn’t know however, because he had not told her yet.

“I would like to try the mint tea too, please.” He made eye contact with the shy boy who probably couldn’t help it either that this building was not made to welcome guests who couldn’t climb the stairs, no matter how much they wanted to.

“So…” Kaitlyn leaned back in her chair and she looked up at him. “What makes you human?” She cocked her head a little and for a moment Hades wondered if she knew something, if she suspected something, if she realised that she was talking to a god. “What are your flaws?” She curled her lips up into a smile. “If we can live with each other’s flaws, I’m sure that we can make this friendship thing work. It’s easy to be friends in the good times. It’s easy to spend time together when you have the same interests and when you’re nice and galant and perfect, but…” She paused for a moment. “There is a point where you have to be yourself, where the mask drops. And that’s the moment you discover who your true friends are.” She shrugged her shoulders. “If you drop your masks, I’ll drop mine.”

Hades stared at her for a moment.

Her honesty was endearing, pure, refreshing, but it was also another painful reminder that this girl had encountered people who had managed to lower her expectations of new friends this much.

He wanted to reach for her hand, wanted to tell her that those who had hurt her were assholes and that if she would give him the names he would make sure they would pay for everything they had done and said. But somehow, somehow he dared to believe that Kaitlyn was capable of making them pay for everything herself.

And she deserved the chance to take matters into her own hands first.

“Dropping my masks, that’s quite a straightforward question, especially because I am certain that I am not entirely certain which part of me is a mask and which part of me isn’t.” Hades cocked his head slightly. He wanted to drop his mask completely and reveal who he truly was. He even would say that this girl deserved his honesty more than anyone else. He was however afraid that revealing that he was a Greek God would eventually do more harm than good. He couldn’t recall when knowing that one was dealing with a Greek God had ended well for a mortal. After all, he had heard more than once how the underworld had gotten a new inhabitant simply because the Gods had played with the poor and innocent heart of a human.

“I know…” Kaitlyn licked her lips. “I don’t think I’d be able to just drop everything at once either, no matter how much I’d want it. Don’t mind me. The whole situation with the elevator messed me up and I was actually in a really great mood when I came here. I’m sorry that I ruined that mood.”

“Don’t be.” Hades shook his head. “The beautiful thing about being human is that everything around us can change our emotions. Have you decided what you want to order yet to brighten that mood again?” Smoothly he tried to change the subject again, away from the heavy conversation they were having, back to the safe territorium of the choice of food. “I absolutely trust your taste and will be ordering any dish you will order.”

Kaitlyn curled her lips up into a smile. “I think I feel some pressure on my shoulders now.” She shook her head and once more the bright whiteness of her teeth stood out. “I will order the burger of the day with a side salad instead of fries.”

“A side salad?” Hades raised his eyebrows. Although he had nothing against humans being aware of what they eat, he wondered why Kaitlyn denied herself the pleasure of fries, which most people preferred compared to a simple salad. “You are not telling me that you are watching your weight because you are afraid to gain a few pounds, are you?” He cocked his head slightly and right in time he remembered to smirk to make clear that he was not trying to be too serious. “If you lose a few too many there might be nothing left of you, which would be a pity, because…” He stopped in the middle of his sentence, realising that he started to sound a little too much like they had already passed the point of becoming friends, even though they had promised each other to see if it was worth the energy in the first place.

“I liked where that sentence was going.” Kaitlyn leaned back in her chair and she blinked a few times. “You can finish it, no problem. I won’t get any weird ideas. If we want to become friends, we have to tell each other sometimes what we think and feel. I know that dropping all masks might be a little too much at once, but keeping them all up is not really gonna work at all, if you ask me.”

Hades paused for a moment. “I’m glad that our paths crossed, but I do think it’s better if that bond between you and I doesn’t get too close.” He softened his voice. “I can’t drop all my masks completely, Kaitlyn. And the last thing I want is ending up as another man on your list of people who have hurt you.”

The smile on Kaitlyn’s face faded and for a moment she just stared at him without saying a word. “You think your study is not going to work out?” She locked her glance with his and it almost felt as if she attempted to look straight through him, right into his soul. Little could she know that his immortal soul was nothing her human eyes could even detect. “You think you’re gonna leave again soon?”

Hades stared back at her and he fought the impulse to reach for her hand and hold it. “I don’t know what will happen. I do know that I do not want to hurt you.”

“If you ever have to leave…” Kaitlyn licked her dry lips. “Make sure to tell me before you go. If you do that, you’re already doing much better than anyone else who has ever left me. You will get bonus points if you tell me why you leave. And extra points if you’re giving me the truth and not some lame excuse I will never believe.”

Hades took a deep breath. “I won’t make any promises I am not sure I can keep.” It was the closest he could get to the truth without revealing too much. “And if that means you won’t spend any more time with me, I will accept that.”

Kaitlyn bit her lip until a small drop of blood appeared. “And that is exactly why I think you deserve a chance.” She folded her hands on the table in front of her. “Thank you for your honesty.”


	9. Chapter 8

 

Whatever conversation had been going on before Hades opened the door towards the dorm he now shared with Athena and Aphrodite fell still the moment he entered the hallway. No one had bothered to turn the lights on, even though the night had already fallen. Despite the slight guilt that was conquering his conscience the dark was calming and almost made him feel like he was at home, surrounded by the lack of the light and souls looking for comfort.

“How was it?” Aphrodite widened her eyes when she noticed the serious expression on his face. “Are you two friends now?” She softened her voice a little and leaned comfortably against one of the stone walls while she crossed her arms over her chest. Her lips were forming a straight line and the silence was almost deafening while she waited for him to answer.

“How do you do this?” He shook his head and folded his hands behind his back. “How can you form those meaningful bonds with humans, knowing that you will hurt them, that you will break their hearts, that you will ruin whatever faith is still left in them?” He gave Aphrodite the chance to say something, to interrupt him, but she didn’t. “I haven’t asked what has happened, because I do believe that it is none of my business, but Kaitlyn has been hurt and left in the past. We will leave and hurt her too and even though it has yet to happen, I already feel guilty about it. She is a good girl, she is brave and kind and intelligent. She deserves friends who will stick with her for the rest of her life. She doesn’t deserve a bunch of Gods who see the world as one big playground while they fly from mission to mission without any pressure, without the time following them, without the fear of dying.”

“You care about her…” Aphrodite cocked her head. Her lips were trembling slightly and she swallowed a few times while she stared at an unknown spot on the floor at her feet. “You barely know her and you already care about her.”

“Aphrodite!” He raised his voice. “Have you ever truly cared about any of the boys you share your bed with? Has any of them ever been able to compete with the God you’re supposed to sleep with?” He shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt innocent humans, Aphrodite. And that is exactly what Kaitlyn is. If you care about her too, you would step away from her and while you’re doing so, why don’t you tell that boyfriend of yours what will truly happen within now and who knew when to his images of the future?”

“Well, well…” Athena shook her head. “Are you sure you’re part of the family, bro?” She raised her eyebrows. “I can already imagine Zeus’ reaction when he discovers that his brother, the ruler of the underworld, feels guilty about befriending a mortal girl while knowing he will have to leave her again.”

Hades bit the inside of his cheek. He could already see the mocking expression on his brother’s face, the amused smile playing around his lips, his eyebrows slightly raised while he’s debating whether or not the information he had gotten was correct. He could already hear the almost belittling sound of Zeus’ voice, calling him all kinds of things he much rather preferred being compared to a rapist, a slaughterer, a traitor. Maybe Zeus was proud of who he was and what he had done, but Hades had no ambition to become like him, to be like him.

“She cares about us, Aphrodite.” Hades cleared his throat and straightened his back. “She has not that many friends. She’s not popular in any way and she’s afraid to become a part of something, because she fears that she will never truly belong. But she does care about us and she does consider us her friends and she does hope that we will not be like everyone else.”

Athena curled her lips up into a smile and she walked towards her brother. She wore high heels today and therefore she was now towering over him because of her already impressive length without the extra inches. “You’re boring, little brother.” She placed her hands on his shoulders. “No wonder Aphrodite thinks it might not be too hard to find a date for you.”

“I don’t want a date!” Hades threw his hands in the air and he pushed Athena away from him. “I want Odysseus’ soul back in my underworld and then I will stay there for another four millennia or preferably even more.” He spoke loudly, for a moment forgetting that there were neighbours and that those neighbours might be able to understand each and every word that was spoken here. “If Persephone wants to return to my kingdom she is welcome at any time, but I do not depend on that kind of company.”

“Of course you do.” Aphrodite straightened her back. “We all do, whether we are Gods or not. We need love. We need someone telling us that we are beautiful or smart or impressive.” She paused for a moment. “We need a shoulder to cry on, an arm around our shoulders, hands all over our body and lips kissing our naked skin.”

“Just because you need something, it doesn’t mean that everyone else has the exact same longings.” Hades crossed his arms over his chest. “I have never wanted to marry Persephone for her shoulder, or her arm or her hands or her lips. You might think those adventures with humans are important, but I am perfectly happy without them.”

“You are?” Aphrodite placed a hand on his chest. “You don’t believe that yourself, do you?” She cocked her head slightly and she pressed her body tighter to his. “When was the last time the needs of your body have been satisfied, brother? When was the last time you have not fallen asleep alone? When was the last time you gave in to those desires? I know that you hate them, brother, I know that you detest Zeus, me and everyone else on the Olympus who gives into them so easily and who doesn’t mind who they hurt in the process. But you can not tell me that you don’t share our needs.”

Hades took a deep breath. Although he had enjoyed sharing his bed with Persephone and had missed her each and every night she had not been there, he had not had the desire to share a bed with anyone else. And although he had for sure appreciated her hands touching his body and her lips kissing his naked skin, he had not once played with the thought of finding someone else to touch and kiss. He did not miss her lips and her hands. He missed her friendship. He missed the conversations they had during dinner. He missed the knowledge that even though she left each year, she would return. He did not worry about his physical needs. He worried about his emotional needs. But he would never burden a mortal soul with the responsibility of filling that hole.

“But fine, if you like Kaitlyn we can find someone else, someone you don’t like, someone who deserves everything that will happen to her. We can find someone who has broken that many hearts that she deserves having her own heart broken. We can find someone who has crushed that many dreams that it won’t harm her to have her dream crushed. We can find someone you don’t mind hurting or even worse.”

“No…” Hades’ voice was trembling, shaking almost. “We focus on the mission. We focus on finding Odysseus and once we’ve found him, we will return home.” He pushed both his sisters aside and walked towards his bedroom. Since there was no lock on the room, as if that lock would keep those goddesses out if they were truly determined to walk in, he blocked the door with a chair and fell down on his bed.

Aphrodite meant well. Maybe they didn’t share the definition of well in this context, but she did mean well. She had been the only one offering to help Hades to look for his escaped soul. She was the only one who even wondered what the absence of Persephone did to him. But her needs and his needs were not alike. Maybe she could satisfy her physical longings by sharing a bed with mortal souls who envisioned an entire future with her. Maybe she could accept that sooner or later she would shatter those dreams and would maybe damage those souls beyond repair. Maybe she thought that fulfilling her longings was more important than the happiness of a random mortal.

Hades couldn’t think like that.

He had met too many broken souls to not feel guilty over being the cause of the fracturing himself. He had heard too many heartbreaking stories to accept to be the cause of that heartbreak himself. He had seen too many humans who were destroyed by those they trusted to allow himself to become the worst thing that had ever happened to them himself.

He didn’t want to hurt Kaitlyn, who didn’t deserve to pay this much for her kindness. And a total stranger he didn’t even care about would not be able to make up for the absence of the woman who had been not just his wife, but also his confident, his best friend, his equal.

Persephone.

Hades let out a deep sigh. He had somehow thought that they would stay together until the end of time. He had even dared to believe that they could be happy together, that their marriage could be everything they both wanted and longed for. It seemed that he had missed more than a few things.

He had missed how much his wife missed the earth and her mother. He had missed how much she longed to live above the surface, in the light of the sun, between the flowers and the trees, surrounded by dogs and cats and birds. He had most of all missed how her love had not been as deep as his, how she had not felt what he had always felt for her, how she did not share his view on their relationship, the equality, the friendship.

She was gone. She was gone for a very long time now and even though he didn’t want to think about it, he knew deep down that his siblings were right. Persephone would not return to him. Either because this earth would end up existing before her work was done and finished. Or because she didn’t want to, because the underworld was still functioning fine without her, because she didn’t need him as much as he needed her.

He had never realised how much his world, his hold on her, the deal that she would spend six months of each year with him, had felt like a cage to her. He had never thought about those four walls, no matter how far they were apart from each other, always giving Persephone the feeling that she was locked up. He had never known that their marriage, even though they maybe had become friends and lovers, was nothing but keeping her away from the things she truly wanted and truly longed for.

Not once had she complained about the deal that was made, about having to spend six months by his side. Not once had she whined about being surrounded by dead souls and darkness. Not once had she admitted to miss the world that she had left behind. But no matter how long she had already been with him, her eyes had never sparkled like they had done on the first day they had met. No matter how long they were sleeping in the same bed, her skin had never glowed like it did when she was twirling around in a thin summer dress that barely covered her body. No matter how long they had already been ruling together, not once had she shown any emotional connection to the world that felt almost like a part of him.

Maybe she had never really loved him. Not in the way he had loved her.

Hades swallowed. A tear rolled down his cheek, but he didn’t even attempt to wipe it away. He couldn’t remember the last time he had cried. He was the God of the underworld, the man who welcomed those who had died with wide open arms, the one who showed no signs of depression no matter how little sunlight he allowed to touch his skin. But he was not immune to those human emotions that turned his siblings into monsters. He was not immune to disappointment. He was not immune to pain. He was not immune to heartbreak.

“Hades?” Athena knocked on the door. Her voice was soft, almost tender. “Hades? Is everything alright?” She knocked once more, but Hades didn’t react. He didn’t even move when she tried to open the door without too much brute force. “Hades!” She raised her voice and her fist landed on the wood once more. “Please, talk to us?”

“No.” He spoke firmly, much firmer than he had thought he was capable of. His voice wasn’t trembling, wasn’t shaking, it wasn’t soft or barely hearable. “You both don’t understand.”

How could they?

Aphrodite was the goddess of love. She needed touches and kisses and compliments to live. Each wedding proposal added power to her engine. Each love note was like a breeze of fresh air filling her lungs. Without those touches and kisses and compliments, without those proposals and love notes she would fade, disappear, end up broken and damaged beyond repair.

And even though Athena was not immune when it came to human emotions, on the contrary, she was also never ruled by them. She knew that her emotions clouded her judgement and that the only right decisions, the ones that guaranteed survival and minimised the chance to get hurt or worse, were the ones taken with her head. She took those with extraordinary capacities under her wing and helped them to excel, to outlive those who are out there to harm them, to challenge the Gods and to prove that they were so much better. She thrived when one of her protegées managed to die of old age, covered in wrinkles and unable to stand or walk without the help of a cane. She knew that sometimes hurting humans was needed to reach something more important.

Aphrodite couldn’t understand that for Hades it was not about the compliments, the love letters, the proposals.

Athena couldn’t understand that the thought of hurting a mortal girl would really stand between him and finding the soul that had managed to escape his underworld.

Hades pushed himself up from the bed when Athena knocked on the door once more, a silence threat that maybe she would end up breaking it if he would not allow her to come in soon. He shove the chair he had used to block the door aside and he cocked his head while his lips were forming a straight line before he opened the door completely.

“I have the impression you can use some help, brother.” She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. “You can’t think straight anymore. It must be the extreme change of lifestyle. You’re not used to computers and sunlight. You’re not used to girls around you either, no offence. We need to find some order in that head of yours.”

“What we need is, making sure that innocent people do not end up caught in the cross fire.” He hissed between his teeth, but he didn’t try to get Athena out of his room either. Instead he sat down on the edge of the bed and his hand held onto the wooden sideboard as tight as they could. “We need a plan that doesn’t involve pretending to like someone when I know I will break her heart.”

“Don’t act like she will die.” Athena rolled her eyes. “Yes, she’ll be hurt for a month or two, maybe three. She will meet someone new. She will trust that someone and before you know it that huge scar is gone and fully healed again.”

“You didn’t see the ones she already carries, Athena.” Hades shook his head. His knuckles were drained of all blood, paler than the palest human skin he had ever seen. “One day there will be someone who breaks her heart. In a thousand pieces. In such a way that there is no chance it will ever get glued again.” He paused for a moment. “I don’t want to be that person.” He licked his lips. “Maybe…” He took a deep breath. “Maybe Aphrodite needs to find her soulmate so Kaitlyn can finally be happy.”

Athena kept silent for a moment. “I’m gonna ask you a few questions and you will answer them honestly. Based on your answers we will make a plan.” She paused, but not long enough for Hades to actually protest.

Not that there was any harm in answering a few questions. It was not about the answers, but about what they would eventually do with those.

“Do you want Odysseus back?”

“Yes.” Hades spoke firmly.

“Do you want to do whatever you have to to find him?”

He swallowed. “Yes.”

“Do you want to make sure that he will not get the second life he longs for?”

His forehead was covered in small pearls of sweat. “Yes.”

“If Kaitlyn is your key to the ball and therefore your key to finding Odysseus, would it truly be so bad to give her an amazing night without any other promises?”

Hades bit his lip until it started bleeding, but the iron taste was surprisingly pleasant. “No.” He bent his head and he folded his hands in his lap. “I’ve been honest with her. I’ve told her that maybe I won’t stay long, that I might leave her.” He took a deep breath, his chest moving up and down rapidly. “The only thing she asked in return is a goodbye before I do so.”

“That doesn’t sound like something you can’t live up to.” Athena raised her eyebrows. “You didn’t promise her anything. You won’t promise her anything. You will simply invite her for a pleasant night. You’ll be her ticket into the ball. She’ll be yours. She doesn’t need to know that it’s for a mission. And she doesn’t need to believe that it’s the start of something more.”

Despite Athena’s strong arguments the entire plan didn’t sit well with Hades, but he knew that if he really wanted to do whatever he had to do to find Odysseus and if he really wanted to prevent that Odysseus got a second life he was not entitled to, he had to do something. Of course, he could wait until a better plan would cross their minds, but maybe Odysseus would disappear before then. And if he didn’t promise Kaitlyn anything, maybe he could indeed live with himself after this was all over.

“We do need to set up another opportunity to invite her though. I’m sure Aphrodite has plenty of ideas for that.”

Hades was afraid that she was right.


	10. Chapter 9

 

“Wow, you really picked an amazing spot for this surprise lunch.” Kaitlyn had her arms crossed over her chest and she stared at the bright blue lake stretched out at her feet. She was wearing a simple jeans with a basic top, but somehow it was hard to imagine that she would look even more beautiful wearing a dress to the ball.

“I didn’t really pick it, I’m afraid.” Hades shrugged and he sat down on the plaid that laid spread out on the slightly wet grass. “I was actually against this picknick for the sole reason that I was afraid that it was far too cold for an activity like this currently. My sisters…”

Kaitlyn curled her lips up into a smile already finishing his sentence before he got the chance to do so himself. “Thought it was a perfect idea and not cold at all.” She hesitated a little and her attempt to sit down looked slightly clumsy. “Mary always has the most amazing ideas and it’s a pity that we can’t just do them all, because that would be perfect. One day, a couple of weeks ago, she had tickets for this concert. It was already sold out for months, long before I even knew I was gonna study here. But somehow she had managed to find someone who wanted to get rid of his. I can’t believe that anyone would really want to get rid of those tickets, and for sure not for free.”

Hades grinned, knowing all too well that those tickets had probably not been for free, but he was not planning on giving that information to Kaitlyn, who seemed more than pleased with her luck lately.

“However, it was really amazing and with amazing I mean amazing. The band played for the full ninety minutes and they did all those songs I love and even a few ones I had never heard before.” She stared at the basket that was filled with food.

Aphrodite had explained that officially the food needed to be self made, but they had both concluded that in this case it was probably better if they would simply buy the food and make it look like it was home made. They were afraid that their attempts at cooking, which were very likely going to fail, would do much more damage than good.

“And somehow you think that something like that is a once in a lifetime experience. It happens once to you and then never again. But with Mary, it happens all the time. She took me to that fashion show in the big city here nearby. I had never seen a fashion show before, but this was like amazing and she even got VIP tickets.” Kaitlyn shrugged. “I participate in literally every contest I see on facebook or instagram or who knows where, but I never win something like that. She does.”

Hades raised his eyebrows slightly and then he leaned on his elbows. “You do admire my sister, do you?” He cocked his head. He wanted to open the picknick basket and let Kaitlyn taste some of the special threats they had found, but somehow he first needed to hear everything about this almost crush this girl had on his sister.

“She’s a role model.” Kaitlyn smiled and she closed her eyes while she allowed herself to bath in the last rays of sunshine of the day. “She’s charming and kind and intelligent and she’s dating the hottest guy at the entire campus and then there are all those treats, which she all gives away to people and never keeps herself.” She giggled. “Your sister can be quite a matchmaker at times. I don’t know how many couples met because of her, but it are many.”

And it were probably many more no one even knew about. Most of the time when people were talking about meeting by accident, that was not quite an accident.

He had witnessed that first hand on the first day here on campus. He had heard the stories about her special gifts more often than he would have liked.

“It’s like she spreads goodness wherever she goes!” Kaitlyn raised her voice. “And I’m glad that she’s helping us to become friends too. I know that the whole thing with the elevator was a little weird last time, I hope it didn’t freak you out.”

“I can assure you it didn’t.” And he could also assure her that Aphrodite didn’t spread goodness wherever she went.

Yes, she should be credited for all those epic love couples she had brought together. And yes, more than once people realised in the underworld that their happiness, that one person crossing their path at the right moment and the right place, was thanks to her. But she also left a trail of broken hearts. She left a trail of shattered dreams. She left a trail of men who never truly got over her and kept on comparing every woman they met to her, which was an unfair comparison considering the fact that Aphrodite was a goddess and most of all the goddess of love.

To be honest, Hades sometimes doubted if the gods were a good thing in general, were the best thing that could happen to humans. There were many advantages to staying in the underworld, away from humans, but the most important one was that he never destroyed a human life unless they deserved it. He never conquered someone’s heart, only to break it again at some point. He never used his powers to persuade women to share the bed with him, even though they didn’t want to, or weren’t ready. He never felt offended when a human possessed a talent he could not compete with. He only created the perfect habitat for those souls that found their way to his kingdom. And he had to admit that not all of those habitats were beautiful and pleasant.

“Here’s the thing…” Kaitlyn took a deep breath. “We’ve been talking about masks, haven’t we? How people pretend to be someone or something they’re not? And I told you that if you dropped them, I’d drop them too.” She paused for a moment and she locked her glance with his. “I’ll go first.” She curled her lips up into a smile. “Yes, people hurt me in the past, but you’re not them and it’s unfair to make you prove yourself, just because they’ve messed up, so…” She licked her dry lips. “I want to drop my masks, well, one of them, because I’m sure that even though I really want to I’m not really capable of dropping them all, at least not at once. I might even be wearing masks I don’t even know I’m wearing. I do trust you though and I want to prove that.”

Hades kept silent and his lips were forming a straight line while he locked his glance with hers. He felt honoured, seen and in a way he wondered if there was finally someone who didn’t consider him boring or uninteresting. But the more she said, the more guilty he started to feel. After all, no matter how much he wanted to, he could never drop his masks, not completely. He could not tell her that he was a god, he could not promise her to be a good friend since he was planning on disappearing once again as soon as this mission was completed. And he for sure couldn’t promise to be anything more, which meant either spending the rest of her human life here on earth or dooming her to an end she for sure didn’t deserve at her age. He would doom her to a faith she didn’t deserve for at least a year or eighty.

Her fingers trembled slightly while she started to roll up her jeans. She revealed her socks and then Hades held his breath when she revealed the part she had probably been speaking about. “I don’t want to scare you, but…”

Hades curled his lips up into a slight smile. He was not that easily scared, even though many souls had tried it already. He had seen horrible things, disgusting things, scary things. But this was none of it. It didn’t even come close. “I see, that does explain the elevator and your not so elegant way of siting down in the grass. I am sure that if my sister had known anything about it, she wouldn’t have advised me to take you on a…”

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Please…” She shook her head while she interrupted him. Her voice was steady and there was a certain kind of fire in her eyes while she locked her glance with his. “It’s perfect. This is perfect. I like this, okay? Never ever wonder if I can do something or not. If I can’t do it how it should be done, I’ll do it my way.”

“Kaitlyn…” Hades let a small chuckle escape while he fought the instinct to press the palm of his hand to her cheek. He however didn’t get the chance to say anything else, to finish his sentence.

“This doesn’t change anything, okay?” She rolled her jeans down again. “I have this prosthetic ever since I’m four. Well, not really this one of course. I grew a lot over the years so I have an entire collection of those things, but you know what I mean. I live with it. I do everything you do. Sometimes a little differently, but it works for me. So, never ever wonder if I can do something or not. I can do anything, understood? I can have picnics in the park. I can go to the third floor of a restaurant. I can swim. I can ride a horse. I can do everything.”

Hades just looked at her and for a moment he didn’t know what to say, or what to do, or how to react. Moreover, the guilt that had already been pestering his mind had only grown in size. All the pieces of the puzzle made sense all of a sudden and he didn’t need to guess why friends had ignored her, had put her aside, had forgotten about her. “I won’t tell Mary or Sophia anything about this. I am certain that will already help, but…” Hades paused for a moment. He had met people with different kinds of prosthetics before, but there was a difference between meeting them after their death and attempting to befriend a human with a leg consisting of skilled technology. “If there is ever anything you can’t do, let me know.”

Kaitlyn nodded, although she didn’t say anything, didn’t promise anything out loud. “And now it’s your turn.” She leaned back in the grass. Her red hair waved behind her like a waterfall and the tips of it rested on the ground. “You don’t have to give up all your secrets, only one. One secret of mine for one secret of yours.”

Hades looked away and avoided her glance. If he could, he would have tried to distract her with the sweets and snacks he had gathered in his picnic basket, but he knew that the more questions he would try to avoid, the more questions he would raise eventually. “Let me think about one…” He took a deep breath. He was certain that Athena would have known the right answer. She would have known exactly what to say or what to answer, which lie to tell or which part of his life to reveal.

“Make it a good one.” Kaitlyn made herself even more comfortable and she closed her eyes to enjoy the warm rays of sunshine on her face now she still could. Winter would soon come, forcing her to wear a jacket, a head, gloves.

“A few years ago my girlfriend left me. She gave me a good reason and I simply let her go, but now I start to worry that maybe she is not planning on coming back at all and that this temporary break because she had something important to do is more permanent than I liked.” He looked up and he saw how Kaitlyn widened her eyes and dropped her jaw.

“She left? Without telling you that the two of you had broken up?” She furrowed her eyebrows. “I’m very curious which reason she gave you to do so, because sorry, but that’s a really lame move…”

“Her mother needed help.” His voice was trembling and weaker than it usually was. He wanted to explain that to humans a few years seemed awfully long, but when you were alive for four millennia already it was barely the worth of a few human days. But despite the fact that a hundred years were probably still nothing, he did start to wonder at what point a god should officially stop waiting, should officially accept that maybe she was indeed not planning on coming back.

“Her mother needed help? That was her reason to leave you? And she never came back?” Kaitlyn widened her eyes and shook her head in utter disbelief. “In a way it is very noble that you are still waiting for her and still giving her the chance to come back, but I don’t think she wants to take that chance.” Kaitlyn spoke softly. “As your friend, because no matter what you say and no matter how bad you think you’re at this you are my friend now, I’ll tell you that she just didn’t want to say the truth. Which is actually far worse than just telling the truth.” She softened her voice and bent her head while she paused for a short moment.

“You know how this feels, do you?” Hades whispered, his voice barely hearable, but apparently still loud enough for Kaitlyn to hear him. “You have had people disappearing without a word or with a lie because they were afraid to hurt your feelings, not realising that by not confiding you with the truth they were hurting you even more than the truth could ever do.”

Kaitlyn didn’t answer for a moment, but eventually she swallowed. The smile on her face had faded and her lips were now forming a straight line. “When I was still growing I had days where my leg didn’t really fit well.” She shrugged. “I sometimes couldn’t do something or had to say no when a friend wanted to come over because I had another hospital appointment for a new leg.” She licked her lips once more and they were glimmering in the late autumn sun. “After a while they stopped calling or stopped asking. They had officially decided that I had said no a few times too many.”

Hades shook his head. “People are cruel.”

“Yes, they are.” Kaitlyn nodded firmly. “But their cruelty has also brought me a few good things in life. I had no friends to worry about. I didn’t go out in the weekend. I had plenty of sleep and plenty of time.” The smile returned to brighten her features. “At least I’m now having a full scholarship and the chance to do three majors. One day I’ll see those friends again and I’ll thank them.”

Hades grinned. Even though he attempted not to form any meaningful relationship with her, it was almost impossible not to like her, it was almost impossible not to return those feelings of trust and safety.

“And one day you’ll see your girlfriend again. Not because she returns to you, because really, she would have done so already if she had really wanted to do so. But because you’ve met someone else, someone more amazing, because she left you.”

Hades bent his head. He was not sure if he could ever love someone like he loved her and if he would ever ask someone else to give up their daily life and everything that was dear to them to be with him, to stay with him. He did like the thought though, the thought that Persephone had not been the only one out there, that there was someone else waiting for him and that one day that someone else would die and would end up with him anyway. He could however not drop those parts of the masks he was wearing. He had given her a story that was as close to the truth as possible. He hoped it was enough for now. “Are you hungry?” He opened the basked at started to place everything on the plaid between them. “I have to admit it’s not home made. I am a horrible cook and whether I let Mary and Sophia do the work or would sponsor the local supermarket wouldn’t make much of a difference, I guess.”

This time Kaitlyn was the one to giggle. “It’s about the company and not about if they made the food or not.”

“That’s a relief. I was already afraid this would ruin the whole idea for you.”

“Don’t worry. It doesn’t. Nothing can ruin this whole thing anymore.”

Hades kept a forced smile on his face, although he was certain that this was not true. He knew quite a few things that could ruin everything. He was certain that a few things would ruin everything. Sooner or later. But hopefully before the damage would be that big that it would destroy her completely.

For a few minutes they ate in silence. The birds, on their way to the south, sang their songs and the leaves of the trees above their heads were blown by the wind as if it was playing on his own personal piano.

“Kaitlyn?” Hades cleared his throat. Actually he didn’t want to ask her to join him to the fraternity ball anymore. He was afraid it would give her a certain kind of signal, an idea he couldn’t live up to. But if he would not invite her to the ball, he would have to find someone else to accompany him and that would be someone he wouldn’t like this much.

“Yes?” Kaitlyn had marmelade around her mouth and there was some whipped cream on the tip of her nose. In a way it was as endearing as it was cute and Hades answered her glance with a smile.

“There is something I wanted you to ask. If you don’t want to, please be honest. I promise that my feelings won’t be hurt in any way if you say no.” He licked his lips. They tasted like sugar and less environment friendly ingredients too and he swallowed. “I know that we’re still trying to discover if we can become the friends we would like to be. I am afraid that I am still figuring out whether or not I will stay here…” He didn’t get the chance to continue.

“You’re thinking about not finishing your studies?” Kaitlyn cocked her head. “After being allowed to register late and do what no one else has ever done before?”

Hades swallowed. He had not attended one class so far and he was not planing on attending any in the future, if he was being honest. He already knew everything they would tell him there and it had never been his intention to graduate. The God of the underworld didn’t need a title, after all. At least, he didn’t need a title invented by humans to impress others with the amount of study suffering they had been through. “I’m not feeling quite at home yet, but…” He straightened his back and lifted his chin. “I’m attempting to change that.” He tried to rebuild the bridge to the subject he actually wanted to discuss. “I have been invited to become a part of the fraternity led by Nicholas.” He took a deep breath. “I want to attend their ball to give them a chance and see if maybe this is indeed what I like and need.”

“Wow…” Kaitlyn dropped her jaw and shook her head. “And here I thought they were not letting anyone new in! I think they must believe you to be very special.”

“Mary is dating Nicholas.” Hades rolled his eyes. He had not forgotten the huge amount of compliments Kaitlyn had given his sister. “I assume that might have something to do with it.”

“Yes, it explains a lot. But still, it’s not like he can decide things like that himself.” Kaitlyn shrugged. “I’ve never been invited to be part of them, or any sorority, but I know how it works. They have this meetings where everyone has to vote about stuff. I’m sure that if he wants to get you in, he has to convince everyone else that you’re worth it.” She bit her lip. “Mary is amazing, but I doubt she can convince the entire fraternity all by herself.”

Hades was certain that Kaitlyn wouldn’t consider it impossible if she knew the truth about Aphrodite, if she knew that he and his siblings were those old Greek Gods who could make the impossible possible.

More than once he had encountered people who were jealous of their almighty powers and immortal lives. Mostly because they had had countless of regrets, had died too young or had not gotten the chance to make their dreams come true. But being a God was not as pleasant as people seemed to believe.

Yes, they were all in a way almighty, within the boundaries of their own department. No matter how much Hades would love to have the ability to create thunder and lightning, that was something only his brother could do. And yes, they also lived eternal, unless one of them would decide to completely destroy the other, which had not happened yet and would hopefully not happen in the future either. But those almighty powers and eternal lives were not half as exciting as mortal lives.

There was never any pressure to make their dreams come true. Whether they did something today, tomorrow, in a year or maybe in a century didn’t matter. They had no last days, they had not clock ticking away the seconds and minutes, they had no death following them around wherever they went. And therefore life could never have the same worth as the lifes of mortals. Maybe they never would have any regrets, but they would not experience that euphoric happiness either.

Hades shook his head. “There is only one problem if I want to attend that ball.” He felt his cheeks heating up and the palms of his hands were sweating. “I do need a date to accompany me, else there is no way I will be allowed to enter.”

“And you’re asking me to be said date?” Kaitlyn’s smile brightened and she threw her long red hair over her shoulder while her eyes started sparkling.

“It won’t mean anything special, but I wouldn’t want anyone else to accompany me.” Hades spoke softly and Kaitlyn nodded.

“I get it. No promises, no special meaning, just me helping you out to get into that fraternity.” She shrugged. “I’ve never been to one of their parties before, but it sounds fun and if I can help you, I’d love to go.” She reached for his hand and Hades hoped she wouldn’t notice that his nerves were showing. “That’s what friends are for.”

“If you need to buy anything for this ball, I am happy to pay for you. I understand that not that many people have a pretty dress in the closet for events like this.” Hades looked at her once more and the guilt that had already been consuming him was tightening its grip with each second that passed.

“I’ve got this, Aiden.” Kaitlyn squeezed his hand. “Like I said, I have enough money and I think I can always use a pretty dress. Maybe there’s gonna be a next ball, you never know.”

“You indeed never know…” Hades hesitated a little, but he was grateful that Kaitlyn did want to join him despite the fact he was not willing to make any promises.

“I will let you know the color of my dress so you can wear a matching tie. That’s how it’s supposed to be right?”

“I have absolutely no idea, but I’m certain my sisters can answer that question.” Hades spoke slowly, weighing his words on the tip of his tongue.

“It’s gonna be amazing, really. And you’re gonna get into that fraternity. And I’m sure that they will make you feel more at home here too.”

Hades didn’t want to nod, didn’t want to say something. He hoped that this fraternity party would be the last one he would ever attend. He hoped that somehow they would find Odysseus and the lost soul would return home. And if that happened, Hades would return home too, whether or not he was accepted as a member of this fraternity, whether or not he would somehow start to feel at home here.


	11. Chapter 10

 

“You’ve got to be joking, Hades.” Aphrodite rolled her eyes while she crossed her arms over her chest. “The ball is in three days and you have not ordered her corsage yet?” She shook her head over and over again. “I knew that you know absolute nothing about those human events, but that you didn’t even know this…”

“You told me to find a date for the ball so they would allow me to attend. You never told me that I still had to follow all those complicated rules that humans invented to somehow prove each other that those balls are special.” He murmured, but he had to admit that he should have looked into this whole event a little more. He should have found out what the exact rules were, which etiquette he needed to follow, what he needed to prepare and order.

Although he had told Kaitlyn that this was nothing official, he did not want to disappoint her either. She had never attended a fraternity ball before either. The least he could do to make up for everything that would happen after the ball was making sure it would be an amazing evening she wouldn’t forget easily.

“Fine, let’s fix this.” Aphrodite searched for her jacket, even though she didn’t need one to keep her warm. “Athena?” She looked over her shoulder to face her sister who was sitting in the comfortable chair with a book in her lap. “Did you happen to find a date to accompany you to the ball?”

“Yes, I did.” Athena didn’t even look up while she answered the question. “And I promise that you will be surprised and amazed at once. Because my date actually likes me, you know.”

Hades rolled his eyes. Why was he the only one in the family who understood that humans were not simple toys one could play with? Why was he the only one in the family who knew that they were leaving broken hearts left and right and that most humans didn’t deserve that? Why was he the only one not abusing his powers without worrying about the consequences?

“Don’t worry brother. She’ll be fine.” Athena’s eyes were still scanning the words in the book and Hades let out a deep sigh.

“Somehow I wonder what really makes us better than humans. Sometimes I wonder if there even is anything that makes us better than humans, because the more I see of you mingling with mortals, the more I realise that somehow the word God complex has started with us.”

“Don’t act like you’re speaking about yourself too, brother.” Aphrodite placed her hands on his shoulders and reached for his jacket too. “We all know that you hate the way we treat humans. Well, at least we have exciting lives, something you can’t really say.” She gave him the jacket and without another word Hades put it on. “Maybe you see us as flawed, but I think the one who truly lacks something is you.”

Hades raised his eyebrows but he did not even attempt to answer or reply. He knew that everything he said would be used against him and he knew that no matter what he did or said, or maybe because of what he did or said, he would never be able to change how his siblings saw him. It seemed that since he refused to abuse his powers, he was automatically considered boring. He probably preferred boring over any other flaw, though.

“Come on, let’s go.” Aphrodite opened the front door. Drops of rain were pouring down, but she didn’t even hesitate and walked outside without taking the time to put a head on or grab an umbrella.

“Aren’t you worried that your hair might end up like a mess or that your make up might turn into a disaster?” Hades closed the door behind him and he hid his cold hands in the pockets of his jacket.

“I know that even soaked I am still prettier than the average human being on this planet.” Aphrodite narrowed her eyes. “To be honest, I think that I might even be prettier than the most beautiful human being on this planet despite being soaked. And my make up is water proof. I should be able to go swimming with it without any trouble.”

“How do you get make up off again if it’s waterproof?” Hades turned his face towards his sister and a small grin spread across her face.

“Soap, a special kind of tissue. Humankind invented a lot during the last four millennia, dear brother. Not all those inventions are useful, but some of them are.”

Hades nodded and he stared at his feet on the pavement. His black shoes, perfectly polished, were quickly covered in water. Yes, at first glance this new world and society seemed quite advanced, he had to agree with Aphrodite on that. Cellphones, computers, trips to space and all those other inventions that had never existed before were quite impressive. But still he wondered if today’s society was really this advanced, really this impressive, really this amazing.

The Greeks and Romans had maybe not been perfect, but they had been capable of many things that were still not understood by today’s humans. They had been far more accepting of a lot of things that were judged nowadays too.

“What color will her dress be?” Aphrodite interrupted the silence while the ticking of her high heels followed the rhythm of their steps. “You did buy a matching tie, did you?”

Hades nodded. “She gave me some code consisting of numbers and they gave me a greenish looking tie. I assume that the store knew what Kaitlyn meant.”

“Green…” Aphrodite stuck the tip of her tongue between her slightly parted lips. “A green dress for a red haired girl. Not quite original, but why would anyone try to be original if others have already done the hard work of coming up with colours that actually match red hair?” She shrugged her shoulders. “I think we should get white flowers then. Else this might turn into a big mess of colours and you don’t want that. I wouldn’t even allow the two of you to leave the house if you don’t look perfect!”

“I assume that white flowers are perfect, then.” Hades sounded as absentminded as he felt. He had no knowledge of color combinations, of dresses, of flowers, of anything that seemed to be important for this ball. He also had the feeling that it was a lot of effort for something that would without a doubt end with drunk people and damaged clothes. There was probably a certain appeal to it, at least to humans, but he had no idea what that appeal was exactly.

“Do you know what kind of dress she’ll be wearing?” Aphrodite cocked her head and she locked her glance with her brother’s, waiting for an answer. “Will she wear something strapless? Will she wear a small blazer to protect herself against the cold? Will she have sleeves? Will she show some cleavage or cover her body? Will her dress be long or short?”

Hades widened his eyes. He had already been impressed when it came to suits and their variety, but it seemed that there was even more choice when it came to dresses. “I assume her dress will be long.” Of all the questions Aphrodite had asked that was the only one he dared to answer. “Although I’m not sure about it, because I was unaware that I had to ask for such things.” He licked his lips and he felt his cheeks heating up a little. “Why is this information so important?”

“We have to decide how big the corsage can be and how she’ll be wearing it.” Aphrodite shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, as if he had said something extremely stupid, something he should have known. “We can attach it with a pin to the dress, but that will damage the fabric and if she is showing some cleavage, it might look a little weird.” She kept on talking while she narrowed her eyes. Her high heels were ticking on the wet pavement, while she crossed the campus as if she knew exactly where she was going. Once again, she probably did know exactly where she was going. If she had not been immortal and if he had not seen her powers at work, he would start to think that Aphrodite had started to become human, even more human than the Gods already were. “So, if we want to play safe we should buy one she can wear around her wrist, but it’s a less great option and if she does have a dress where we can pin it on…”

Hades rolled his eyes and he let out a deep breath.

When he had left the Olympus it had all seemed so simple in a way. He would visit the earth for a short while. He would discover where Odysseus was and he would bring the man back to where he belonged, returning the body he had stolen to its original soul. If he had known that this whole adventure would be this complicated.

He hesitated. He didn’t know what he would have done.

Odysseus was the first soul that had ever escaped the underworld. But if he succeeded some others might end up inspired, especially now Persephone was not there anymore to keep an extra pair of eyes on them. Odysseus belonged in the underworld and Hades had no choice but to bring him back there.

“Don’t worry, brother, you have me!” Aphrodite grabbed his arm and tightened her grip on it. “If we really need more information I will simply call her and ask her all my questions. It will ruin the surprise a little, but these are simply unwritten rules. Kaitlyn will know them. She will for sure be far more surprised if you appear on her doorstep without a corsage.”

Hades nodded while he tensed all his muscles. “Is there anything else I have forgotten? More rules I should worry about?” He raised his eyebrows and he stuck the tip of his tongue between his lips. “We can better talk about this now, because now I’m already annoyed by the complexity of this entire plan. It can’t get much worse.”

“It will be worth it.” Aphrodite curled her lips up into a smile. “You might think that humans are not capable of throwing nice parties, but those balls are really impressive. They have a live orchestra playing old classical music, which you will like. Everyone will wear those amazing clothes and there will be pics made at the entrance.”

“And by the end of the evening everyone will be drunk, the orchestra will feel ignored and those pictures won’t be publishable anymore.” Hades took a breath, but he didn’t give Aphrodite the chance to interrupt him before he continued. “The next morning they will all have a huge headache and a severe case of memory loss. They will have forgotten almost everything that has happened, but they will still end up calling it a memorable evening.”

“You pessimist!” Aphrodite pulled her hand back and used the back of her hand to hit his arm teasingly. “You are with Kaitlyn. I’ve never seen her drinking too much and there are always a few responsible people who keep their intake of alcohol in check to make sure nothing too bad happens. You can always socialise with them. I’m sure they’d love to vote for you if they discover that you’ll voluntarily take those shifts so they can have their drinks.”

“I won’t take those shifts. Not even if they pay me very well for it.” Hades shook his head firmly. “The sole reason I’ll be visiting this ball is the fact that this might be a way of finding Odysseus, of making him drop his mask and of taking him back to the underworld. Once that is accomplished I am planning to return home and stay there for as long as possible.”

“You’re gonna spend another four millennia under the ground as soon as you found Odysseus?”

“Only four?” Hades shook his head once more. “I am planning on staying there much longer. I am planning on never visiting this place again.”

“And here I thought you were at least enjoying yourself a little. Kaitlyn is good company, I don’t hear you complaining about the food anymore, I was planning on taking you to some classes next week.”

“There won’t be a next week.” Hades raised his voice. “Because we will find Odysseus at the ball and then I will return home. I will disappear as quickly as I have appeared.”

“And what about Kaitlyn? Don’t you want to see her anymore?” Aphrodite spoke softly, her blood red lips were forming a straight line and she cocked her head slightly while she tried to read her brother’s expression.

Hades was sure however that she had not seen him often enough to actually do so, something he appreciated. “Kaitlyn is a wonderful girl who deserves far better than spending her time with Gods who don’t give a damn about her.” His expression hardened. He wanted to blurt out that her life had already been hard enough, which was mostly something he simply assumed and not something he was actually sure about. He wanted to tell his sister about the prothesis, the limitations, the elevator discussion and all the friends who had left her. But that was not his story to tell and it wasn’t his secret to spill.

“You can also stay in her life for a little while longer, if you feel so guilty about leaving her behind.” Aphrodite softened her voice even further and she was now whispering in such a way that barely anyone could hear it. “You can be her friend, follow classes and graduate with her. You can be a more constant part of her life.”

“Aphrodite…” Hades took a deep breath and let out another sigh. “She doesn’t deserve that either.” He licked his dry lips. “She deserves someone who is there to stay for the rest of her human life. She deserves someone holding her hand and maybe even guiding her towards the altar one day. She deserves someone who is seriously considering to stay with her until death do them part.”

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “You are speaking about this as if she’s already in her late thirties and hopeless. She’s young. She needs a little pleasure, a good friend, some kisses. You can make those next few years of her life the most amazing ones she has ever had, but you refuse to do so because you will break her heart when you leave again?”

“She has had her heart broken more than enough already and I indeed think she does not deserve to have it broken again, especially not by a God who knows from the start that there is absolutely no hope for them in the long term.” He hissed between his teeth and he clenched his fists. “I know that I will break her heart and making myself an important part of her life feels selfish and egocentric and almost monstrous.”

“Come on, Hades!” Aphrodite threw her head in her neck, her long hair waving in the wind while she did so. “You can’t be serious right now! You just can’t be!” She buried her fingers in her blond locks. “She’s is a student. This is the age of experimenting, of trying things, of trusting people and ending up hurt. We will simply teach them a valuable lesson they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. One day, when she dies, she will realise why you didn’t stay and she’ll be happy that you didn’t, but she will still smile when she sees you because she remembers how amazing your time together has been.”

“Is that how it works with all those young men you’ve been dating? Is that how it will work with Nicholas? One day he will die and you will somehow end up visiting in the underworld, although I should see your more often if you really did visit each and every soul you had a relationship with, and he will fall down at your feet to kiss the ground where you walk on again?” Hades raised his eyebrows and he didn’t give Aphrodite the chance to answer his question. He had never meant for her to answer to begin with, because he already knew that the answer was no. “Maybe some men will be thankful that you spent some time with them and granted them a few years of your life. Maybe they will indeed fall down at your beautiful body and kiss your feet. But I think that there are a lot of men like Nicholas, who feel betrayed and played, who really thought that you would be the wife they would marry and that you would spend the rest of your life by their side.”

“And so what?” Aphrodite shrugged her shoulders. “Yes, I will shatter his heart into a thousand pieces. Yes, maybe he will keep on thinking about me for the rest of his life and yes, maybe he doesn’t want to see me again because he’s angry with me. What’s wrong with that? There are 6,5 billion people in the world. They live barely eighty-five years. I live eternal. I don’t care about a few angry people here and there. I care about my needs and my wants.”

“And Ares is not enough for you?” Hades crossed his arms over his chest. He and Aphrodite had had a moment when they had shared a deeper connection, but this wasn’t the first time they ended up fighting like this. This wasn’t the first time he ended up fighting with any of his siblings. “Is there ever going to be someone good enough for you?”

“No.” Aphrodite lifted her chin and straightened her back. She looked confident, she sounded confident, she probably was confident and Hades wasn’t sure if that calmed his mind or made him even more angry. It was great for her that she didn’t have a voice in the back of her mind telling her that all of this, playing with human lives, was wrong. But it was not something to envy, especially not because in the end she never seemed to find the sort of satisfaction he had found with Persephone. “I need a different man each year. I need some changes now and then. I need a different environment, a different country, a different culture. Ares is good. Better than my the husbands I should be stuck with, but he’s not enough.” She raised her voice. “I’m the goddess of love! I need love. I need men. I need admiration.”

“Of course you do.” Hades interrupted her to prevent her from saying even more, from hurting those humans he started to care about so deeply even more. “But just because you do, it doesn’t mean I do too. You call me boring? Fine, I will absolutely accept that. I however can’t live with myself if I would allow myself to destroy a human and especially not if that human was as pure and bright as Kaitlyn.”

“You don’t just like her…” Aphrodite widened her eyes while she glanced up and down her brother. “You’ve fallen in love with her!” She dropped her jaw. “All this talk about how amazing she is, how talented she is, how intelligent she is, how pure she is…” She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head in almost disbelief. “You love her. You love her and you are scared to admit it.”

“Aphrodite!” Hades rolled his eyes once more, and he had almost forgotten that they were on their way to a flower store to get the pure and wonderful girl they were talking about a corsage for the ball that was nothing but a bad excuse for people to get drunk. “There is nothing to admit. I don’t love her. I didn’t fall for her. I simply don’t want to hurt a human, and eschpeially not…” He stopped in the middle of his sentence, realising that he wanted to add another adjective that would make her stand out from all the other humans he had met both in the underworld and during his short life here in earth so far.

“It’s fine. You don’t need to admit it.” Aphrodite had a teasing smile playing around her lips and Hades had to admit that he didn’t like that smile at all. It was the kind of smile that promised something and he was not sure if he would be happy with that something or not. “We will buy that girl a corsage. We will give her an amazing evening at the ball, without any false promises. And then you will disappear because we’ve found Odysseus.” She smiled a little brighter. “Excellent plan. Good luck with the execution.”

“What do you mean?” Hades felt his chest moving up and down rapidly.

“I don’t think you can do it. I don’t think you can walk away from her.”

“I can. And I will.”

“We’ll see about that.”


	12. Chapter 11

 

Hades shifted his weight from leg to the other while he waited for Kaitlyn to open the door. The cold autumn wind was causing shivers rolling down his spine while blowing the small bouquet of flowers, attached to a wrist band, he was holding in his hands. His fingers were trembling a little and even though he would never admit it out loud, he was feeling more human than he had ever felt before.

Aphrodite’s words kept on replying in the back of his mind and the more the tried to forget about them, the louder they became.

For his entire life he had only loved one woman. He had never turned his head when a pretty soul had entered his domain. He had never tried to flirt with a woman far out of his reach. He had never given Persephone a reason to be jealous of anyone. He had almost forgotten how it felt to be in love, how it was to actually care about someone else more than he did about himself.

But the more he thought about it, the more he wondered if Aphrodite was maybe right.

He had come up with countless of reasons why he was not in love. His heart didn’t skip beats in his chest whenever he was with her. He wasn’t sweating and freezing at the same time when she was a little too near. He didn’t feel electricity rolling over his skin when she accidentally touched him. He didn’t forget to eat, to drink, to function.

He was actually doing perfectly fine.

But he had also come up with a lot of reasons why maybe he was in love with her anyway. The world did seem a little brighter whenever he was with her. He liked her company and he liked it even more when he could make her smile. He didn’t want to disappoint her or let her down. And despite the fact that he knew that becoming friends was probably the worst idea ever, he didn’t want her to have some negative impression of him either. He wanted her to like him. He wanted her to miss him. His fear that she would end up broken, was based on the wish that he was capable of breaking her if he would leave her.

There were no sparks between them, but there was something, something more than a simple friendship, something that could last an entire lifetime, or longer, if he would give them a chance.

“I’m so sorry I kept you waiting.” Kaitlyn smiled when she opened the door. Her red hair waved over her shoulders and her green dress was glimmering a little in the moonlight. “I was looking for my earrings, which I’ve totally left somewhere. I just don’t know where I’ve left them. I got those from my mother before I left. I never though I’d wear them, but she told me she wore them to her first official ball. She wanted me to wear them to mine too.”

Hades knew that he should reply, say something, but while he let his glance wander over her, he lost the ability to speak. Just like he expected her dress reached the floor, hiding her prosthetic leg. Broad straps were draped over her shoulders, but he was still glad that he and Aphrodite decided to buy her a corsage she could wear around her wrist. He wouldn’t want to be responsible for destroying the beautiful and wonderful dress she was wearing.

“Give me five more minutes, okay? If I don’t have them by then, I’ll be wearing another pair.” She opened the door a little wider to let him in, but she turned around to continue her search through her small dorm before Hades could say anything else.

Now he knew that she had lost her leg when she was only four years old, he started to understand why she moved like a dancer, a ballerina. He understood why she kept her back straight, why she always seemed to be looking for her balance, why she walked slowly and carefully, almost gracefully. If he looked closely, he could even see how the movements of her right leg were a little less fluent that the ones of her left.

“What the hell are they doing there?” Kaitlyn raised her voice and Hades couldn’t help letting out a small laugh. “If I had not noticed that they were in the sink I could have flushed them away!” She shook her head while she stared at her reflection in the mirror. “And there is another strand of hair that doesn’t want to listen to me either, great.” She looked over her shoulder. “I’m so sorry!” She shrugged. “I’ve never been to a ball before and I’m making a huge mess of this and that’s really not what I wanted. I’m really really sorry that I keep you waiting. You probably want to be there as soon as possible and here I’m…”

Hades stood up from his chair and instinctively he placed his hands on her shoulders. His fingers touched her bare skin and he noticed how soft and almost delicate it felt. “Perfect.” He whispered, his mouth barely a few inches away from her ear. “You’re perfect.” He curled his lips up into a smile. “I’m certain that no one will mind me being fashionably late when I show up with such a pretty lady by my side.”

Kaitlyn’s glance met his through the mirror. Her eyes widened slightly and she dropped her jaw, but quickly she seemed to find back her confidence. “Thank you. You look amazing yourself, but I already knew that you looked good in a suit.” She stuck the tip of her tongue between her lips. “I think I’m ready now.”

“I am fairly certain you’re not.” Hades waited until Kaitlyn turned around and he held up the corsage he had been buying for her. “Thank you for accompanying me tonight.” He lifted her hand up and carefully, to make sure he would not accidentally end up hurting her, he shove the corsage around her wrist. “Now you are ready for tonight.” He stepped back to look at her once more and then he offered her his arm, just like Aphrodite had told him to do. “Shall we?”

Kaitlyn’s smile brightened while she linked her arm with his. “Let’s go.” She nodded. She wore flat, almost soundless shoes, but the door was screeching while she opened it. It was only then that she noticed the way too expensive limousine that was parked in front of the house. “Is that for me?” She turned her head towards Hades and he nodded. “No way!” She freed herself from his hold and with quick steps, as quick as possible for her, she rushed towards the dark black car.

Aphrodite and Nicholas were already waiting in the back of it. Their next stop would be Athena’s newest flame, about whom she had not wanted to tell anything. Athena had just assured them that they were in for quite the surprise and considering the almost triumphant look on her face when they had dropped her on the way to Kaitlyn, Hades’ curiosity had been awoken.

“Kaitlyn!” Aphrodite widened her arms while Kaitlyn attempted to step in.

She struggled a little with the uncommon entrance and Hades placed his hands in her sides to help her a little. “Mary! Nicholas!” She fell down in the comfortable seat covered in dark black leather. “I’m so sorry that it took me so long. I lost my earrings and my mother gave them for tonight and it’s my first ball and…” She covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m talking too much already.”

Nicholas shook his head. “I happen to enjoy your excitement.” He moved aside a little so Hades could sit down next to him. “Most of our members are not looking forward to this ball, to be honest. I am pleased that someone else proves them that it can be differently.”

Kaitlyn let out a sigh and bit her lip. “O, damn, I totally forget that you’re the preses of this fraternity! You throw this ball. Are you gonna be late because of me now? Because if I had known that we would share a ride, I wouldn’t have taken this much time or I would have started sooner. I maybe should have started sooner anyway.” She shrugged. “Sorry…”

“Kaitlyn!” Aphrodite rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Can you please stop saying sorry? You’re a lady and sometimes ladies need a little more time to look perfect. You look absolutely perfect.” She reached for Kaitlyn’s hand and lifted it up to look at the corsage. “And I’m glad the flower fits you and your dress.” Aphrodite dropped Kaitlyn’s hand again. “Green really does look good on you. I understand why you didn’t even try to be original.”

“Can I start driving already?” The driver looked in his mirror and Aphrodite nodded. “I’ll go back to the previous address, right?”

“Yes, we have to pick Sophia and her date up, whomever her date might be.” The smile playing around her blood red lips faded a little. Her fingers were tapping on her bare knees and every few seconds she uncrossed her legs and crossed them again. It probably didn’t happen that often that she was not involved in bringing two lovebirds together. She leaned back however when the limousine started riding again and without asking anything she gave Kaitlyn a glass of Champagne. “To your very first ball! May this be the best night of your life!” She took a sip of her own glass and smiled when Kaitlyn brought her glass to her lips too.

For a moment there was nothing but silence. Kaitlyn let her eyes wander over the interior of the more than impressive car she was sitting in. Nicholas’ fingers were typing on the virtual keyboard of his phone, probably to keep his friends up to date about his current whereabouts. Aphrodite stared at the campus passing by and all those people by foot who looked longingly at their comfortable way of transport.

Eventually the car stopped in front of a large apartment building. The cold grey stones were already depressing to look at, let alone to live in them.

Athena had clearly not found someone who had a fortune to get a better dorm. Probably she had found someone who was here because their parents had put aside some money each month to allow their child to go to college.

“In how much of a hurry are we?” Aphrodite turned her head towards her date to the ball and he shrugged as if he wasn’t exactly bothered by the huge amount of time it took to get from one side of campus to the other. “Not in so much of a hurry, fine.” She leaned back comfortably and took the last sip of her Champagne.

Hades wasn’t sure if this had been her first glass.

Although the effects of alcohol took a lot longer to kick in because they were Gods, it eventually did kick in. They were not immune to dizziness and sickness and the fading away of all those limits one could create for themselves. They were not immune to giggling and saying too much. But tonight they had to keep themselves in check. After all, they were not here to simply have fun and delve into the many pleasures the human world had to offer. They were here to find Odysseus and lead him back to the underworld.

Everyone looked up when there was a soft knock on the blinded window. “Open up!” Athena raised her voice and when Hades pushed the door open she had her arms crossed over her chest. “For people who were this curious to meet my date for tonight, you are awfully inattentive.” She shook her head and stepped aside to reveal the pretty lady that was walking behind her. “This is Karen.”

Karen’s dark black hair curled around her face and waved over her shoulders. She was wearing a golden dress that reached the ground, but barely covered her dark skinned shoulders. She wore a wonderful smile on her face and her brown eyes glimmered in the moonlight. She was as breathtakingly beautiful as someone could expect from anyone who caught the interest of a God, but without the confidence and arrogance she maybe would display if she knew she was accompanying a goddess tonight.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Hades extended his hand and he ignored his sister’s giggling. He was used to his manners being called old fashioned and boring by now. He wasn’t really bothered with it anymore. “I hope you are looking forward to tonight?”

Karen bit her lip and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve never been to a ball before. I’m a little nervous.”

“O! I’m not the only one who’s going for the first time!” Kaitlyn leaned forward to have a better look at the stranger accompanying the sister she had barely met. “I know exactly how you feel. I’m afraid that we’re even late because of me. I lost my earrings and my mother gave them to me to wear at the first ball. I actually thought I would never go to a ball, but it seems that things have changed. I had no idea where they were.”

Aphrodite rolled her eyes and Athena shove her brother aside so she could sit down next to him before she helped Karen to get in too. “How often did she tell that story already?” Athena’s whisper was soft, probably barely hearable for human ears, but Hades had to bite his lip to prevent himself from saying something about it.

Kaitlyn was nervous and he couldn’t blame her. She had never attended a ball before, she was accompanying someone who kept on repeating that he was not certain if he could and would be friends with her and she would meet so many new people that she would for sure end up mixing names. Those earrings maybe seemed like something trivial and unimportant to all those immortal gods and the preses of the fraternity, but they were important to her and therefore they were important to Hades.

“I wish my mom could see me right now…” Karen leaned back in the comfortable couch and she shook her head when she was offered a glass of champagne. “I don’t drink, I hope that’s okay?”

“I’ve made a picture and sent it to my mom. I don’t know if she has already seen it, I don’t think so because then she would have answered. She was almost even more excited about me going to this ball tonight than I was myself!” Kaitlyn let out a laugh and Karen laughed along with her, although her eyes didn’t smile along.

“I can’t send my mother a picture anymore either.” Within a second the entire atmosphere in the car changed. The laughter faded and no one dared to say anything. “My parents died in a car accident when I was only two. My grandmother raised me, but she died a couple of years ago. She has not even seen me go to college.”

“I’m so sorry…” Kaitlyn’s voice, already high pitched normally, sounded even more childlike now she realised that her own accident could have ended a lot worse, had ended a lot worse for other people. “I don’t know what you believe of course, and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I believe that when people die they go to heaven and become an angel. And I believe that all the people I’ve lost, which are not as many and for sure not people who were as close to me as your parents were to you, I guess, are angels now.” Kaitlyn took a deep breath. “And I believe that your parents and grandmother are now watching over you and can only think that you look amazing. I’m sure they’ll hope you’ll have an amazing night and they’ll be watching the rest of the evening to make sure you do.”

“That’s sweet of you to say.” Karen reached for Kaitlyn’s hand and squeezed it softly. “I don’t know if that’s true, but it does sound wonderful.”

Hades could tell them that it was not true. There was no such thing as heaven. There was no such thing as angels. There was no such thing as people who had died watching over their loved ones. But if a thought like this could comfort them and could help them to have a more pleasant night, who was he to shatter it? Who was he to tell them truth? Who was he to bother them with stories about the underworld, its darkness and the impossibility of even looking at the world they had lived in?

One day their mortal lives would end. They would enter the underworld and depending on whether or not their family had followed the tradition of giving them two coins to spend on the boatsman, a tradition that was long lost already and therefore rarely done, the crossing of the Styx river could either be simple or hard. And then they would end up in front of him.

He wondered if they would still know him by then, if they would remember that slightly strange student that had been studying ancient languages for a brief amount of time, if he could last an impression that would be even stronger than all those years they would spend on forgetting him.

No matter if he knew them or not, he would be forced to have a look at their lives, what they had done and achieved, what they had reached, how they had treated the people around them. He would then have to tell them how they would or could spend the rest of their dead life in the underworld.

He didn’t doubt that Kaitlyn had not much to worry about. Her sunshine would carry her through even the worst possible option that was waiting for her, but Hades was almost certain that she would end up having the freedom to explore his world, to a certain extend, in absolute freedom. At least, he hoped that that wouldn’t change in the upcoming years, in the years of her life that mattered way more than the ones she left behind.

“Hades…” Athena burrowed her elbow in his side. “The girls have asked you three times already how you are feeling about visiting your very first ball ever.” She hissed between her teeth and rolled her eyes, but she constantly kept her glance locked with Karen’s.

Athena had never looked at someone like that in the company of others. Hades had the reputation to be boring, which he was to a certain extend, but Athena had the reputation to be unreachable for mortals, for men. She had been asked if she was saving her body for someone special, if she had a reason to not be interested in those sweating and muscled male bodies that were thrown at her feet, especially when she was involved in a war, which happened quite often. Her entire way of dealing with those avances all of a sudden did make sense though. She had simply not been interested in men and male bodies. She wanted a woman by her side, someone who shared her dislike for the disability to function of the male brain.

“Hades!” She raised her voice and shook her head. “I bet there is something interesting going on in your mind, but they’re interested in an answer.” She turned her head towards her company and towards the girl Hades had invited for this small trip. “I’m sorry, it’s probably the champagne.”

He had not had a drop of it yet. “I’ve heard wonderful things about the balls thrown by the fraternity committees.” Hades had a lot of problems with a lot of sins. He hated cheating on the person who had promised to share their life with you. He hated trying to lure someone into a kiss or a touch without asking whether or not they would enjoy that. He hated toying with human lives as if they were nothing but toy soldiers waiting to be played with. He did not hate lying a little once in a while, especially if that lying had more advantages than disadvantages.

“Wonderful things?” Kaitlyn grinned, a chuckle escaping her lips. She looked happy and that happiness made her look even more beautiful. “I’ve mostly heard that it’s a party like every other party. People are just wearing way prettier clothes and are drinking champagne instead of beer. The end? It’s all the same. Men are getting drunk, girls disappear into rooms and lock the door because they are terrified that someone will walk in and won’t take no for an answer anymore, some people never reach their home or a bed because they are simply too drunk to function. The next day there will only be a few people who have any idea of what has happened during the party.” She shrugged. “I’m looking forward to it, because I’ve never been to a party like that. But I think we shouldn’t make it more special than it is.”

“Actually…” Nicholas cleared his throat and straightened his back. “I think this evening might be more special than you think it is.” He curled one corner of his mouth up into a smile. “Although we don’t need a reason to throw our ball, we do like combining events.” He turned his head towards Hades. “I was actually planning on only telling you this when we had already arrived, but since the subject has come up…” He paused for a moment. “Last week I met with all the individual members of our fraternity and I asked them if they would be okay with me inviting you to become part of our small group.”

There was nothing but silence in the limousine. Aphrodite was smiling brightly, one hand resting on Nicholas’ upper leg while she burried her sharp nails in his skin through the fabric of his pants. She had most likely already known this and somehow Hades couldn’t shake the impression that she had maybe even encouraged Nicholas a little to make this happen.

At some moments, moments like this mostly, Hades wondered if Aphrodite was actually interested in finding Odysseus, if she was really certain that he was hiding here on campus somewhere, if she was really mostly thinking about Hades’ case and the escaped soul, or if she was simply doing what she did best.

All those questions about Kaitlyn. All her attempts to tie him to this university, to this human life, to those moments of belonging to a group of people, something he had ever experienced before. All those set up dates that Hades refused to call dates but that Aphrodite still treated like a date.

It was hard, almost impossible, not to doubt Aphrodite’s through intentions. “Wow, this is really impressive brother!” She leaned back and crossed her legs in front of her. Now she was sitting down in a rather small car it was even more obvious that her legs were long, at least relatively compared to the rest of her body. Her high heels, with heels that high that most ladies would already end up face first on the ground, only made the effect worse. “It really doesn’t happen that often that someone who is only here for a few weeks get such a chance.”

Unless they were played by a goddess and had little to no say in everything that was happening to them. Unless they heard that the brother of the girl who’s dating their preses was a promising student that might become quite great and successful. Unless they worried that if they wouldn’t claim him first, someone else would claim him instead.

“He is not a member of our fraternity yet.” Nicholas smiled even brighter and the smile playing around his lips reached his eyes. “He will have to work to reach that status. At least all the members agreed to let him do this test. We do believe in your talent, let this not be discouraging in any way, but we do want to be sure that you are the right fit for our small little group of course.” Nicholas lifted his hand up. “It’s a two way thing, of course. Some people fit into a group and others don’t and even if somehow we discover that you do not fit into our little group, there is nothing personal about that.”

“I understand.” Hades understood very well what Nicholas meant. Nicholas was not that powerful that he could simply let Hades in. He was already saying sorry for everything that was about to happen, tonight, when Hades was supposed to worry about far more important things, like finding the soul that escaped his underworld, the soul of the smartest man that had ever roamed this earth.

This was going to be a hard, long and not so wonderful night.

He could already feel it.


	13. Chapter 12

 

The limousine held still in front of a large almost castle like building on the far edge of the campus. The trees surrounding the place were covered in lamps and lanterns and bright fires lighted the road towards the entrance. Here and there some couples had sat down in the grass in front of the building. Either because they had not been invited in the first place, or because they had another reason to prefer staying outside over going inside.

“Enjoy the beginning of the ball. After the announcement the true adventure will start.” Nicholas winked before he hurried out of the car, probably to prepare the last few tests he had in mind for the god of the Underworld.

Hades wondered what kind of tests those students had designed. Over the years, over the millennia, he had heard quite some different stories about those periods, about those introductions and those tests people had to go through. Not one story had really impressed him, but he did have a preference for what kind of test he would prefer for himself.

Of course, he was physically healthy and on top of that he was invulnerable and immortal. He had nothing to fear. No matter how challenging the experience would be, no matter how demanding the tasks would be, he would not be out of breath, he would not struggle with a heart that couldn’t keep up with him, he would not have that annoying organ piercing in his side even though most humans could live perfectly fine without it.

His mind however had always been his true weapon. He was not the God of Wisdom and he did not have the illusion that he could outsmart Athena in any way. He knew that if she would design the test, he would one way or another fail in the end. He did however like to believe that he was quite a bit more intelligent than most students that roamed this place. Apart from one.

Maybe that was the right tactic to find the imposter, even though the evening was quite distracting, especially because now all of a sudden he also had to worry about a test he had not even asked for. He wondered if anyone would ever voluntarily ask for a test like this, but then he realised that most people signed up completely voluntarily for fraternities, sororities and companies, which probably meant that they indeed liked those tests, one way or another.

“Are you more nervous now?” Kaitlyn leaned on his elbow while Hades helped her out of the car. Even though most of the time it was impossible to notice her leg and the lack of movement in some of the key points of it, at those moments she looked far from elegant, even though her posture was perfect. “I’m sure you’ll pass that test. And I’m there, I can help you if that’s allowed.” She cocked her head and furrowed her eyebrows. “I can imagine that’s not allowed though. They want to have you of course and not me and they want to be sure that you’re the right fit for them and not me. If I help you, they’d know if we’re together a good fit, but not if we’re individual too.”

Hades stood still on the walkway and placed his finger carefully on her lips. “There is no need to worry about this test, I promise. I will either pass the test with flying colours, which will make this evening more exciting and more special.” He paused for a moment and licked his lips. “Or I will fail and will know that even though my sister is dating the preses, it doesn’t meant that this is also the perfect place for me.”

He was more than certain that this was not the perfect place for him. Even if he would eventually end up passing that test, he would still not be one of them and he would never become one of them. He would never end up drunk on a hard and cold floor because he had not been able to find his bed anymore. He would never end up sleeping next to an innocent girl who was unsure whether or not she wanted to share her sheets with him. He would never speak about people who were not exactly like him in the same way those people did.

Zeus would fit in perfectly well. Maybe even Poseidon could see the bright side of this experience.

But Hades knew that if he would not accept this invitation and if he would not pass those tests, he could not care any less about it.

Yes, his entire life he had already wanted to belong to something. He had never felt like part of the family, not just because he had locked himself up in the underworld, but also because he had the impression that he was seen as the God they could laugh with, as the God they could villanize in front of humans, as the God they could speak ill about because there were no consequences. He had never felt part of the community of ghosts and souls he had gathered over the years either. He had to admit that some souls were quite fascinating and interesting to spend time with, but he was not one of them.

He was a God. They were nothing but spirits without a shell. He could visit the earth whenever he wanted, even though he chose not to do so. They were stuck under the ground for the rest of eternity, and eternity could be quite some time.

He had never belonged anywhere and he was already almost certain that he would not belong here either, especially not because he was not planning on staying anyway.

It was impossible to belong somewhere if you were not willing to invest time and energy into doing so.

“You talk about this as if it’s nothing.” Kaitlyn spoke softly. “Those fraternities are really important, Aiden.” She reached for his hands and held them tightly. “If you are part of one, it’s your future. If they get into some high position, you will profit from it.”

“And if I will reach a position I can not imagine to be given to me, they will profit from me.” He finished her sentence, although this was most likely not what she had been planning on saying. “I know that the main reason they are willing to do all of this for me, the main reason they allowed me to take this test this soon, is because they believe that one day I will be the leader of something big and they all want to be a part of it.”

“And Nick is dating your sister?” Kaitlyn grinned and she pulled Hades a little tighter towards her. “I know that he’ll never admit it, but that helps. Like I already said, Aphrodite makes those impossible things happen. If she told them to take you in, they will take you in. If she said that you were important or will be important, you don’t even have to be afraid that you will not pass that test. You will pass that test, I’m sure of it.”

Hades was not sure if that was something positive or not. Maybe to a lot of people being a part of this experience was more important than anything else, but he wondered how much being a part of something was worth, if you had not earned it. He appreciated Aphrodite’s help and if this would indeed lead him to Odysseus eventually, he would have to thank her for the rest of his life. But there was also a certain charm into knowing that he could accomplish something all by himself, that he could reach something without someone else doing the hardest work for him. He preferred this fraternity wanting to have him because of who he was over being let in because he was his sister’s brother.

“So, maybe we should go take a few pictures first? You never know what they’ll do to you and how your suit will look like after all those tests.” Kaitlyn tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “And those pictures are probably the only thing I can show my mom and she’s for sure gonna ask about it. I promise, I will tell her that you’re not my boyfriend.”

Hades waited until she would add that he of course could be if he wanted to be, but Kaitlyn didn’t say it. Strangely enough, that did somehow disappoint him. Even though he would have said that he had no intention to become more than a vague acquaintance from college anyway.

Kaitlyn was still holding on to one of his hands while she started to make her way to the entrance. Her flats were a little out of tune with the rest of her outfit and she stood still in front of the three stairs that lead towards the door.

Hades realised that he had never seen her walking stairs before. He had of course been there when the whole situation with the elevator had happened, which made a lot more sense now he knew that Kaitlyn was not simply making a fuzz of these things because she wanted to. “Your ball is waiting for you, princess.” Hades pulled his hand away but he offered her his arm instead.

Kaitlyn smiled a bright but thankful smile and she leaned heavily on his arm while she climbed the three small stairs one step at a time.

Hades wasn’t sure if anyone was watching. He was also not sure if anyone would notice that Kaitlyn’s steps didn’t look normal, or galant or easy. He was even less sure if anyone would care. He pulled her a little closer towards him when they reached the top and he nodded at one of the boys, dressed in an expensive suit he for sure had not paid for himself, hired tonight to play bodyguard.

“Aiden and his plus one…” The boy murmured while he looked at the list and searched his pockets for a pen to cross them off. “Have a nice and special evening.” He winked and Hades tried not to show that Nicholas had given him some more information than he should have.

“Thank you.” He stepped in and once again he let his eyes wander through the hallway that was clearly only built to show off. The walls were covered in paintings, with almost certainty not as real as the students probably liked to believe, and expensive chandeliers brightened the room a little, but not too much.

“And here I thought that the dorms those guys live in are already extraordinary…” Kaitlyn dropped her jaw and widened her eyes while she slowed down. She most likely didn’t even know that she was slowing down, but Hades simply fell into step with her. Her amusement was somehow entertaining. If she would ever set foot on the Olympus, or in the private quarters of the god of the underworld himself, she would most likely not even survive the amount of riches and glimmer.

“Aiden and…” Another boy of his future fraternity stood in front of a white wooden door. “I don’t think we’ve met yet?” He held out his hand and a little reluctantly Kaitlyn shook it.

“Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn Davenport.”

“O! You’re the miracle child!” The boy’s smile brightened and he placed his hand on the doorknob. “If you two want to have some pictures taken, it’s here inside.” He opened the door a little and the flashing of the camera was already almost blinding, even though they were not in the room yet. “Take as much pictures as you like.” The boy nodded while he watched how Hades and Kaitlyn stepped in.

This room was even darker than the hallway had been. A giant white background drop was placed against the wall and two gigantic lamps were lighting the right area. Different kinds of props, that should have been in baskets but were clearly not anymore, were spread across the floor.

“Watch out while you walk around.” A blond haired girl with glasses with a camera around her neck giggled. “I’ve tried to clean it up, but it’s a huge waste of time.” She shrugged her shoulders. “If there is anything you want to use, just grab it, okay?”

Hades shifted his weight from one leg to the other while he tried to see anything that caught his interest. He had to smile when he found the flower crowns and without even thinking about it he pulled his arm away and kneeled down to grab one. His fingers were slightly trembling while he placed the crown on her head. “A crown for a princess.” He murmured and he was not even sure if Kaitlyn had heard him until a small giggle escaped her lips.

“Then you should wear a crown too.” She pointed at a golden crown with red velvet in the corner. “What’s a queen without a king?” She shrugged and Hades raised his eyebrows.

“Usually, a much better solution for a country, to be honest.” He didn’t protest against wearing the crown however and he walked towards the glimmering fake gold and placed in on his own head. “How do I look?”

“Ridiculous.” Kaitlyn balanced on the tips of the toes of her left feet while she tried to move his crown a little. “It’s a little big for you, but like this it will look fine.” She stepped back and nodded once more as if she had just decided that this was indeed much better than it had been before, even though she had probably moved the crown only barely.

“We could also take the pictures without our crowns, if you prefer that since you wanted to show them to your mother?” Hades cocked his head slightly and once again he felt his crown sliding a little. “A king and queen don’t stop being king and queen just because they’re not wearing a crown anymore.” After all, he had not been wearing a crown once in his life, but he was still the ruler of the underworld, the king of the death, the master of the afterlife.

“No, I want the pics with crowns.” Kaitlyn curled her lips up into a smile. “I like the crowns.” She walked towards the white backdrop and looked for the black dot in the middle of the floor. “We stand here, right?” She looked up at the photographer and the young girl nodded.

“Yes, there’s perfect.” She checked the settings on her camera once more while Hades walked towards the human girl who seemed more than just a little excited about this small adventure.

At least someone was having fun tonight and although he had mostly brought her because he needed to get in and had to come with a date to do so, he was glad that somehow Kaitlyn got something out of her time with him.

Who knew, maybe she would even be asked to join the sorority connected to this fraternity. She would deserve it. She was not a goddess. She had not gotten thousands of years to gather her knowledge and learn her languages. She had simply worked hard to get where she was right now and she deserved to be seen and acknowledged for it.

Hades took a deep breath while he positioned himself behind her and carefully he wrapped his arms around her waist. His fingers tingled where he touched her body. He could feel his heart hammering against his ribs while the adrenaline rushed through his veins. He couldn’t remember if he had ever been this nervous, if he had ever felt like this. He wasn’t sure if Persephone had ever had this effect on him.

Persephone.

The more time he spent with Kaitlyn, the less often he thought about her. Sometimes he wondered if Persephone had probably heard about his little adventure, here in the outside world. Sometimes he wondered if one night, when it was already dark and everyone was asleep, the doorbell would ring and she would show up on his doorstep. Sometimes he wondered if there was a small part of Persephone that was jealous of what could happen between him and this mortal child.

Or did she believe that she didn’t have a reason to be jealous? Did she think that faithful Hades would keep on waiting for her until the bitter end of his immortal life? Did she think that she could go away however long she liked without him ever moving on? Did she want him to move on and was she happy that he had finally done so? Had she hoped for years that he would find someone else to love? Had she wished for years that she wouldn’t have to come back to the underworld one day?

“Aiden! This is only the beginning of the party! Can you at least smile?” The photographer raised her voice and Hades shook his head.

“Of course, of course, I am so sorry. I was distracted for a small moment.” He cleared his throat, but his voice trembled a little, even though he didn’t know what he should be uncertain about, what he should be worried about.

Kaitlyn placed her warm and tender hands on his though and she gave him an encouraging squeeze. She probably thought that he was nervous about what was to come, about the test, about everything he would have to do.

That test was the least of his worries, although he was slightly afraid that it would keep him too distracted from his actual task tonight. He hoped that his sisters would find Odysseus for him so he could bring him back to where he belonged before this event was completely over.

“Can you two try a different pose? This one looks a little static.” The photographer dropped her camera and walked towards them. “If you don’t mind…” She reached for Kaitlyn’s waist and Kaitlyn shook her head.

“Of course not! You’re the photographer, I’m just a simple student who has no idea how things look on screen eventually.” Kaitlyn willing moved along and a few seconds later Hades allowed the photographer to place him somewhere else too.

A part of Hades wanted to protest, wanted to say that this position was far too romantic, that he had not interest in Kaitlyn like this, that he didn’t want her to think of him like this. But every time he opened his mouth to let the words escape, the sentences were stuck in his throat. He did want to hold her like this. He did want to look at her and drown in her eyes. He did want to act like there was somewhere a future for them, even though there was not. He most of all liked it that he could simply say afterwards that he didn’t want to make the photographer uncomfortable. He knew all too well how humans could feel when they had made a mistake, even though they made a mistake they couldn’t have prevented.

The photographer couldn’t know that the girl Hades had invited to be his prom date was not his girlfriend and would never become his girlfriend either. She couldn’t know that they were not seeing each other like this. She couldn’t know that the picture she had in mind wouldn’t represent the bond they truly shared. She couldn’t know that tonight, once this was all over and Odysseus was found, Hades would return to his own domain and would never show his face on earth ever again, unless another soul managed to find a way to escape, which he hoped would never happen.

“Are you okay with this?” Kaitlyn pressed the palm of her hand to his cheek while she leaned backwards a little. She looked a little unsteady and she trusted his arm, carrying her while he leaned forward, frozen in the middle of an intimate and romantic dance, with her entire weight.

“If you like pictures like this, I will happily make them with you.” He spoke softly and a smile spread across Kaitlyn’s face. Her eyes were reflecting the light of the spots above her head and he wondered what she would look like when she would eventually return to him, after her long and happy life.

In a way he dared to believe that she would still be pretty, that she would still have those glimmering eyes, that she would still have those blushing cheeks. She would arrive in the underworld with a leg that was as functional as a real one and couldn’t be identified as a prosthetic anymore. After all, doctors were constantly getting smarter and science was moving forward with a speed that almost equalled the speed of light. She would maybe vaguely recognise him, would remember that short moment she had shared with a student when she was in college. And then she would all of a sudden understand why he had not wanted to get too close to her, why everything that could have been between them had not become true, why they had not gotten their happily ever after.

“Aiden?” Kaitlyn whispered while the photographer stepped back. “Are you still trying to be my friend?”

Hades frowned his eyes a little while he completely forgot that there was a camera taking pictures of almost each moment they shared now. “I don’t understand the question, I’m afraid?” He stuttered a little and he tightened his grip on Kaitlyn’s body so the distance between them became smaller and smaller.

“Are you still only trying?” She spoke even softer now and Hades licked his lips. “Because I think you already are. You’re a great friend. Maybe the best I’ve ever had.”

Hades bit his lip. He was supposed to be happy now. He was supposed to smile. He was supposed to give into those strange sensations in his stomach and his chest. He should say that he actually longed to be more than just her friend, that he wanted to be her lover, that he wanted to see if maybe they could live together for the rest of eternity, if maybe they could share the rest of their lives together.

But he couldn’t say any of it. He could only think of how Kaitlyn was going to feel when she would discover that he had left, that he was gone without a trace, that he had not moved to another campus, another university, that he had no facebook account anymore, that his twitter account was gone too, that his phone number was now out of service or used by someone else. He would break her heart. The one thing he had not wanted to happen, was going to happen. He was going to break her heart. And he already hated himself for it.

“Can you say something? Because now it’s starting to get a little uncomfortable, and I’m not talking about the way we’re standing right now, because that’s surprisingly pleasant. I mean, normally I’d hate it, because I’m totally depending on you, but I trust you and I’m somehow sure that you won’t drop me.” She paused for a moment. “I at least hope you won’t drop me.”

“I won’t.” Hades cleared his throat and he curled his lips up into a smile. A few more flashes almost blinded him, but he kept his glance locked with hers. “I want to be your friend, but I still don’t want to make the promise that I’ll never walk away from you. I can’t make you that promise, because I’m not sure if I can keep it.” He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “I wish I could promise that I would never leave you and never break your heart…”

“Sometimes people say that you can’t miss something you’ve never had.” Kaitlyn swallowed while she interrupted him before he could completely finish his sentence. “I think they are wrong when they say that.” She turned her head towards the photographer. “Do you have the pictures?”

“Yes, they will be wonderful!” The photographer smiled happily. “You can pick them up after the party. Most people forget about it. I’ll find the two of you somewhere.”

Kaitlyn turned her head back towards Hades. “I think that even being friends with you for a few hours…” She shrugged while Hades helped her to stand up normally again. “Would be better than not knowing what it is to have a true friend.” Once she was fully stable again she walked towards the door without looking over her shoulder even once.

“Kaitlyn…” Hades wanted to run after her, but his muscles were unable to move. “Kaitlyn!” He raised his voice and eventually he remembered how to run again.


	14. Chapter 13

 

“Aiden Douglas?” A young man with olive skin and dark black hair stopped him as soon as he left the photograph room. “I’ve been requested to escort you to the main hall.”

“I am sorry, but I have to…” Hades didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence.

The one student was accompanied by another, dark skinned, with those bright eyes that seemed to stare straight into his soul while he folded his hands behind his back. “Do you want to become part of our fraternity or not?” He raised his eyebrows and Hades let out a deep sigh.

Actually the answer to that question was that he didn’t want to become part of their fraternity, that he didn’t care about their fraternity, that he had more important matters to worry about currently. He had to find Kaitlyn, who had run off to who knew where because he kept on being honest, too honest, or not honest enough. He was not sure which of those options was the closest to the truth. He had to find his sister so they could look for the one student that was inhabited by Odysseus so they could find a way to guide his soul back to where he belonged without damaging the student too badly.

But Hades was also afraid that he would be thrown out of this party if he would refuse to become part of their fraternity, if he would tell them that he was not interested in the most prestigious club this campus had to offer. He was afraid that somehow he would end up hurting them in the same way he had hurt Kaitlyn and if he was thrown out of this party, he wouldn’t be able to fix any of his problems. “I can become part of this fraternity?” He acted like Nicholas had not told him already what was going to happen. He tried to sound as surprised as possible and he tried to play his worry as if it was excitement.

“That’s what I thought.” The two students each grabbed one of his arms and they dragged him through a couple of hallways and rooms to what had to be the main hall.

The main hall was most likely what used to be the dinner hall once. The floor was covered in marmer in different colours and patterns that would probably look impressive from up above, which meant that not one human being, apart from the one who built this, had the honour to see it like it was meant. Chandeliers with candles, which had all been lit by a lot of hands, were swinging above their heads. On the stage a small live orchestra was most likely keeping their pay checks in mind to get through this evening.

“There you are!” Nicholas stood in front of the orchestra with a microphone in his hand and a small piece of paper in the other. “Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear members of our wonderful fraternity.” He spoke with a firm and steady voice. Either he was made to be the preses or he had learned exactly how to speak to get a whole audience to go awfully and scarily quiet. “Tonight is a special night for all of us.” He looked around and made eye contact with a few different members and eventually with Aphrodite who had placed herself at the side of the stage. “We hope to welcome our newest member.” He hid the piece of paper in the pocket of his pants and pointed at Hades, who was still firmly held by his two future comrades. “Aiden Douglas, majoring in something with Ancient Greek and Roman and maybe one of our future presidents!”

The two boys next to him started to push him towards the stage and Hades almost trembled while they prevented him from actually climbing the stairs. “Standing on that stage is for members only. Maybe by the end of the night, newbie, but not yet.”

Hades straightened his back and tried to hide the discomfort he was felling now an entire ballroom filled with people was staring at him. He had never been shy and he had never had that many issues with being the center of attention, but somehow this was a different situation and all of a sudden he understood how people with a fear of crowds felt when they were forced to stand in front of a crowd anyway. “I’m sorry…” He stuttered and Nicholas curled his lips up into a bright smile.

“No need to be sorry. I have high expectations of you and I hope that you will pass the tests we’ve designed for you. I promise, we will start easy.”

The audience booed and Hades had to stop himself from shaking his head. Students. They thought they were adults and grown ups, but in reality they had rarely outgrown all those annoyingly childish habits.

A big smile spread across Nicholas’ face and he lifted both his hands up. “Calm down everyone, calm down! There is no need to panic just yet. I promise that our newest member will have to pass all those hard tests you all had to take to be allowed into our precious fraternity. We don’t want to scare him away before midnight though, do we?”

This time the crowd cheered and Hades had to use all the willpower that was somewhere hidden inside of him to stop himself from shaking his head or rolling his eyes.

He had stayed away from humans for a reason and the more time he spent with those humans, the more he started to notice that he had been right. Of course, there were exceptions, people who were worth his attention and conversation, but most of those people were not into activities like these and were for sure not interested in having to do tests to be allowed to become a member of some club that will give you unfair advantages during the rest of your life.

“First we need to know for sure if our newest member is intelligent enough to have in depth conversations with us.” Nicholas stretched out his hand and Aphrodite entered the stage to place a folded piece of paper in his hand. “Aiden Douglas will compete against a few of our brightest members to show that he can keep up with them or can even outsmart them on those subjects that should be of his interest.”

Hades crossed his arms over his chest while he straightened his back and lifted his chin. He knew that he had to try to avoid coming across as arrogant or too intelligent for his own good, but he knew that those sort of quizes were a piece of cake for him. He was a God! He had had all the time in the world to learn things. He spoke countless languages, had read a lot of books and he had spent way too much time with Athena, which meant that some of her knowledge had for sure rubbed off on him too.

“This was my idea.” Aphrodite silently had positioned herself at Hades’ side. “Odysseus will for sure have taken the body of a bright and promising student. Which means that there is a big chance that he will be among those who will compete in your next test.” She cocked her head slightly while she kept her voice low and soft so no one else could understand what she was saying. “All you have to do is answer every question correctly so he has to do the same thing.” She shrugged her shoulders. “And all we have to do is find out which student is smart enough to get a result that equals yours.”

“I don’t think it will work like that, sis.” Athena positioned herself on Hades’ other side. “If Odysseus has indeed taken one of those bodies he will either not compete in this test at all, to make sure he won’t stand out in any way. Or he will give false answers on purpose.” Athena rolled her eyes. “He knows that we’re here and he for sure knows that we’re looking for him.” She hissed between her teeth. “You’re not gonna outsmart him with a quiz, Aphrodite.” She walked away again and Aphrodite and Hades exchanged a short glance.

“Before we set everything up for this first part of the long and tiresome evening, with of course here and there a break to fill our glasses and stomachs again, I will like to clarify that even though Mary helped me with the preparations, she knew nothing about the details of this evening. Of course, as your preses it is my responsibility to make sure that each procedure will be just and honest. Aiden Douglas won’t be any exception when it comes to that.”

The crowd started mumbling, either because the statement Nicholas had just delivered had awoken a few sleeping dogs or because they were glad to know that their preses was not just following his natural urge to find a partner, but was putting the fraternity above his relationship.

If Hades would tell the others that their preses had already told him what was waiting for him at the ball, he would for sure take some of that credit away from him again. But, Hades was still not interested in being thrown out of this party. Instead, he let his eyes wander over the crowd. He was looking for the prettiest girl alive with bright red hair, but not even when he leaned on the tips of his toes could he see a glimpse of her. He hoped she had not left this party on her own and he also hoped that nothing had happened to her.

“Members? Bring out the bells!” Nicholas raised his voice and he smiled when two boys, both dressed in dark grey suits with a dark blue tie carrying the symbol of this brotherhood, came on stage with two simple bells probably stolen from a bicycle that had been left behind after a long and drunk night. “Aiden?” Nicholas gestured for Hades to step forward and once Hades did he pressed the bell in his hands. “You stay down there.” He raised his eyebrows while he straightened his back again. “For those who have never been here before and for our novice, these are Jackson and Stefan. Two of the brightest people I’ve ever met. They’re full of knowledge and intelligence and will make sure that Aiden won’t easily win this round.”

The audience started to applaud, some people even started to scream as if this was one of the most important sportmatches of the entire year. Just like most sports this was simply a game, but a game that was too important for those involved. And they had no idea how badly Hades was going to win this.

“The rules are simple. Who happens to know the answer, rings the bell.” Nicholas raised his voice, immediately changing his tone to that of an official host. He would actually look amazing on screen. Maybe that even was the future that was waiting for him if anyone with influence would remember all moments like this. “If the answer is correct you’ll get a point. If the answer is wrong, you’ll lose a point.” Nicholas locked his glance with Hades’. “You have to make sure to end with as much or more points that those two smart asses. And if everything your sister told me about you is correct, that shouldn’t be too hard.”

Hades smiled politely and he hoped that the slight tremble he tried to act in his hands while trying out the bell once didn’t come across as too overacted. “I will do my very best to not disappoint.”

“Mr. Preses.” Nicholas added. “Every time you talk to me, you add Mr. Preses to your sentence.”

“Of course, I will keep that in mind, Mr. Preses.” Hades emphasised the last word and bowed a little, which, he realised, could come across as mocking even though he didn’t mean it like that.

“Then let the first test start!” Nicholas screamed and he was quickly joined by countless other voices and people. “First question.”

The masses quickly silenced, either because they wanted to be sure to hear the question or because they wanted to be sure to hear the answers either Hades or any of the other students would be giving.

“First question!” Nicholas kept on screaming though as if he needed to make sure that even if the crowd decided to cheer again the students would still hear him.

Hades tensed all his muscles and he placed his finger on the bell. He was ready for those questions and he was even more ready to show them that no test they would design would be too hard for him.


	15. Chapter 14

 

“I don’t think anything like this has ever happened before…” Nicholas stared at his sheet, at the questions he had asked, at the unrealistic amount of good answers Hades had given him. “You’ve answered them all and all correctly.” He shook his head over and over as if he tried to figure out what had gone wrong, where he had made a mistake, where the others had made a mistake. “But, I am happy to tell you that you’ve passed the very first test!” He screamed and the crowd started to clap their hands and raise their voices. “We will take a half an hour break to give everyone the time to fill those glasses again and then we’ll continue with the second test!” He nodded at the audience as if he was giving them permission to finally leave and while everyone started talking and whispering he jumped off the stage and held out his hand. “That was impressive, truly impressive.”

Hades smiled a bright smile, knowing all too well that if he had played this game with one of his siblings, it wouldn’t have been this easy.

Those students had almost four millennia of a disadvantage, but his siblings, his siblings at least had the time on their side.

“If I had not known that it was impossible for Aphrodite to have a look at the questions, I would think that she has given you the information to make this an unfair game.” Nicholas shook his head and shrugged while he pulled his hand back. “Congratulations. I can’t wait to see what will happen during the next tests.”

“I can’t wait for them either.” Hades murmured and he watched how Nicholas made his way through the crowd while his sisters rushed towards him.

“If I had not known that you were a God, I would have been impressed.” Athena wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “If Odysseus stole one of their bodies, he made a terrible choice.” She dropped her arm again and let her eyes wander over the crowd. “Where has Kaitlyn gone? I was expecting her to be by your side all the time?”

Aphrodite furrowed her eyebrows and she curled her fingers around her brother’s arm. “What did you do to her, brother?” She hissed between her teeth and tightened her grip, burying her nails in his flesh. “What did you say to her?”

“Nothing she didn’t know yet.” Hades shrugged, although he did regret how he had told her once again that whatever illusion and fantasies she was having about a friendship or more were most likely not coming true. “Although I think she might already see me as a friend and I think she was angry when I said I still wasn’t sure about this whole friendship adventure.”

Aphrodite let out a deep sigh and she shook her head. “You’re impossible! Impossible!” She raised her voice and let his arm go. “While you’ll get through those stupid tests, I’ll go and find her. You better prepare a nice excuse and a way to make it up to her.”

“Wait…” Hades reached for her hand and grabbed it. “I hate it that she hates me. And I hate it that I messed up, I really do.” He paused for a moment and swallowed. “But don’t you think it might be better like this? At least now she won’t have to endure the pain of something much worse. If I do become friends with her, if I maybe even end up kissing her, don’t you think it will be much and much worse?”

Aphrodite widened her eyes and shook her head. “Are you serious now?” She raised her eyebrows. “You have invited her to her very first prom ever and you think that letting her remember this day as one of the worst days of her life is much better than doing everything you can to make it up to her?” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know if we’re gonna find Odysseus tonight. Maybe we won’t. If we won’t find him, we’ll have to stay a little while longer. Are you really okay with her being angry at you for as long as the rest of your life here on earth will last?”

No, he was not okay with that. He was far from okay with that. He wanted her to like him. He wanted her to invite him for dinner or lunch. He wanted to talk to her and he wanted to do those small things that made her life a little better. But he also wanted to make sure he wouldn’t end up breaking her heart, damaging it beyond repair. Maybe he had left a small scar now, but the last thing he wanted was leaving an even bigger one in a week or month from now.

“You’ll regret it, Hades.” Aphrodite whispered, making sure that no-one could hear what she had just said, the name she had just used. No one would believe her if she would tell them all that he was the God of the underworld, that she was the Goddess of love, that all those stories they had heard about the Greek Gods were true. But she had to be careful, they all had to be careful. “And I refuse to let that happen. She loves you. You love her. I am the Goddess of love. You can protest, you can fight, you can scream at me and be angry with me, but fate brought you together and I won’t let you pull the two of you apart again.” She freed herself from his strong hold and disappeared in the crowd.

Hades let out a deep sigh and he turned his face towards his other sister, the one who had not said anything during the entire conversation. “Please, assure me that you are on my side in this entire situation and discussion? And please tell me how I can solve this mess without hurting anyone?”

Athena shrugged. “If you ask me, Aphrodite was always determined to have you and the girl meet.” She stuck the tip of her tongue between her lips. “I don’t think you have much of a choice. But, if it comforts you. Yes, I do agree with you. You will hurt her. You will break her heart. You will be her undoing and more cliches like that.” She shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “I don’t know if it’s worth it. I will find that out myself the day I will have to decide if things between me and Karen are more than just a summer fling.”

Hades crossed his arms over his chest and he stared at the empty stage. He was not sure why he was not going after Aphrodite to stop her. He was not sure why he was not leaving those tests behind, forgetting about them, ignoring them. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t be a part of this fraternity. It didn’t matter that he would lose his spot and his entire reputation. Or maybe he simply didn’t go after her because he didn’t want to. Maybe he wanted her to find Kaitlyn and maybe he did want the chance to make it up to her, to excuse himself, to explain himself.

“Are we ready for the second round?” Nicholas climbed the stage again. He was holding a glass of beer in his left hand and he curled his right hand around the microphone. “The evening has only just begun and we’re about to test our new recruit some more. We can’t wait to see sides of him we have not yet discovered and we can’t wait to see the true talents of our own members.” He smiled and he gave the audience the chance to cheer once more.

The more beer they all drank, the less beautiful the cheering started to sound. The more time ticked away, the less focussed they all seemed to be.

No matter what tests they would throw at his feet, Hades was certain he would outmatch anyone they selected. If they selected their strongest member to show some brute force, he would be able to strengthen his immortal muscles to move even more weight. If they selected their fastest member to run ten miles, he would be able to run past them and finish first. If they selected their bravest member for an extreme game of do or dare, he would easily be braver than that student. After all, Hades couldn’t die. He could get hurt, but he would overcome that. No matter what they would let him do, there was never anything to be afraid of. The only thing he was kind of afraid of was all those tests that might have something to do with women.

Hopefully Nicholas would somehow think that being faithful carried some weight and wouldn’t let him do anything that could break Kaitlyn’s heart.

Hades had already damaged her enough tonight. The last thing he wanted was her having to watch how he would kiss someone or touch someone or do things he had never done to anyone but Persephone before. He swallowed, but he lifted his chin and straightened his back.

Aphrodite was on the look out for Kaitlyn, hopefully mainly to make sure she wouldn’t get into any trouble in a house filled with drunk guys. Athena was figuring out whether or not love was worth forgetting logic for. And he had to focus on distracting the masses so they could find Odysseus in the mean time.

“Are you ready for the next round?” Nicholas screamed again and the audience screamed louder. The overwhelming yelling was almost deafening and Hades pressed his hands to his ears which made Nicholas laugh. “I see we have at least found one weakness.” He gestured towards Hades and Hades nodded.

It would be the only weakness they would find tonight.


	16. Chapter 15

 

The sun was already rising in the east. The first rays of daylight came through the windows of the hall. But that hall was still crowded with people. Many of them were too drunk to function. A lot of them couldn’t even remember their own names at his point. Most of them for sure couldn’t remember anymore who they had brought to the ball and who they were supposed to go home with.

Hades was in the centre of everything. His suit smelled like alcohol. He was covered in dirt and his hair was a sticky mess glued to his forehead. He felt dirty. He felt disgusting. He felt anything but euphoric, but he had passed all tests with flying colours.

Nicholas had even gone as far as telling him that he had been the best novice they had ever had. Although Nicholas had also assured him that this was by far not the last test he would ever face.

Maybe Hades had managed to surprise them all and had outsmarted and out fastened anyone, but he was still new to this fraternity and that meant he still had a lot to learn and a lot to go through. Hades didn’t mind. All those tests had been as easy for him as breathing. He had not been challenged in any way and he had never felt threatened in any way. He was a God and they were only humans and although some humans had some extraordinary talents, Hades was almost sure that those humans wouldn’t waste their time with fraternities and games like this.

Those humans were studying in their room to pass that one important test those boys would for sure fail. Those humans were taking extra classes in the evening because the normal program was not challenging enough for them. Those humans were spreading their wings and expanding their horizon, were already building branches and trademarks, were already staring at their own masterpieces on the wall.

“At what time is it appropriate to go home?” Hades leaned towards Nicholas. He had not even attempted to get away from this mess so far. He had acted like he had enjoyed himself to the fullest. He had used his glass to fill the glasses of others who were too far away to even notice that someone had messed with their drink. He had danced to songs with stupid lyrics and even more disappointing beats. He had tried to sing songs he had never heard before. He had done everything Aphrodite had told him to do, but most of all he had wondered where Aphrodite was, where Kaitlyn was, why they hadn’t come back to him yet.

“You are an official member now. The ceremony is over and most people are now simply trying to last as long as possible. I would not advice to beat them in that department either.” Nicholas winked. “I will go find Aphrodite in a bit too and then we’ll probably go to my room or maybe I can finally convince her to invite me to hers.”

Hades smiled, although he didn’t give the poor boy much chance. He didn’t hope that Aphrodite would give in at least. Because that room, that was in his dorm too and he was not looking forward on being kept awake by them during the few hours he had left to catch some sleep.

“If you want to leave, you can leave. You have my official permission to do so.” Nicholas nodded at him and he placed a friendly hand on Hades’ shoulder. “You’ve been a hero today, Aiden. I think that a lot of elder members want to challenge you in the upcoming weeks, but I’m sure that you can handle it. And whatever happens during those challenges, they will never be able to steal your membership from you. I am the only one who can do that and to replace me they will have to follow a very complicated procedure that will take at least months.” He pulled his hand back again and Hades nodded with a smile on his face, not sure whether or not that was a calming or reassuring thought.

“Thank you, preses.” How bowed slightly before he turned around and walked away. He tried not to look at the people, half asleep on the floor with half empty glasses of beer still in their hands. He tried not to look at the girls, their skirts revealing way more than they probably wanted to reveal and their cleavage more visible than when they entered.

Hopefully they would all be found by the right boy and hopefully they would all get home unscratched and unharmed.

Hades actually wanted to take care of them all. He wanted to ask them where they lived, although he doubted if they actually knew that answer in their current state. He wanted to call a taxi for them so they could get there safely, but he hoped that those parties were no bad excuse to do everything Zeus loved so much.

After all, his brother was not a great example when it came to morals. His brother was for sure not a great example when it came to morals regarding humans.

He stepped over a few pair of legs, almost tripped over some high heels and eventually he walked down the stairs in front of the almost palace like house. The candles in the garden had stopped burning and the night was awfully quiet and way more chilly than Hades had expected it to be. “Aphrodite? Kaitlyn?” He raised his voice to yell their names, but he got no reaction. “Athena?” He looked around and over his shoulder but there was nothing but silence and emptiness.

He hid his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Actually he should turn around and walk back in. He should see for himself if Athena was okay inside there, with the girl she had invited, the girl she maybe even loved. He should make sure that Aphrodite had found Kaitlyn and that she was not somewhere else in some kind of trouble. He should make sure that everyone he had accompanied to this party, without even accomplishing what they had actually come for, was safe and sound I their own bed before he would fall down on his.

“There you are!” Aphrodite all of a sudden appeared next to him and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Don’t worry, your girl is safely at home and if all goes well she’s not asleep yet. I told her that you would come by to explain things.”

“Explain things?” Hades furrowed his eyebrows. “What is there to explain? Or do you want me to dig up some lame excuse, like you and Zeus and all the others always do when you’re trying to get a human girl or boy into your bed?” He paused for a moment. “Speaking of which, your boyfriend seems to wonder why you never invite him to stay at your place and he is determined to ask you if you can change that tonight.” He took a moment to breath before he raised his eyebrows. “I hope you tell him no, because the last thing I want after the night I had is having to listen to whatever sounds the two of you make tonight while I attempt to finally sleep.”

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Do you really think I’m that loud in bed, dear brother?” She winked and she cocked her head while she crossed her arms over her chest in a playful move.

“No, I don’t think anything about you in bed, because that’s something I totally don’t even want to think about.” Hades shook his head. “I do think about the extremely thin walls in those dorm rooms though.” He smiled back at her and Aphrodite let her fist bump his shoulder.

“I was only joking. Of course I won’t invite Nicholas over to stay at my place. That could give him the wrong impression. He might have our entire future planned out and might already debate the wedding date, but I am still trying to end this adventure at some point. To be honest, he’s already starting to bore me a little.” She rolled her eyes. “I thought that students were adventurous and longing to try out new things. But if you ask me, he’s pretty boring. He will be an excellent boss or whatever job he will get. He will also be an excellent husband when he meets that one girl that will make him one, but he’s for sure not mine.” She stepped back and wrapped her arms around her own trembling body.

They might be Gods, but the cold could still get to them. They were not immune to the warmth of the sun and the touch of the wind, if only that were the case.

“You should go to Kaitlyn and…” Aphrodite hesitated. “I know that you are not like me or like Zeus or even like Athena. You are not looking for a short lived adventure. I would advice you to try something else, something we never try.” She hesitated for a moment and her glance met his. “I advise you to tell her the truth. She deserves the honest truth.”

“You want me to tell her that I am the God of the Underworld? That I am Hades? That I have lived for four millennia and will live for as long as the earth exists and maybe even longer?”

Aphrodite nodded. “I want you to tell her all of that and then I hope that the two of you can somehow find a way to figure out if what you’re feeling for her and what she’s feeling for you can last.”

“How can this ever last?” Hades threw his hands in the air. “She’s only human and I am a God! One day she will grow old, but I will always look like this. And while she lives her human life, with all her human dreams and human wishes, I will be ruling the underworld. I will talk to the death. I will be far away from her, only visiting once in a while.”

“Don’t you think that you should let her decide what she wants? If she still thinks it’s worth it?” Aphrodite cocked her head. “I understand that it will be the scariest thing you’ve ever done. I even understand that Athena and everyone else won’t like you doing this, but I think you should follow your heart and not your mind.” She paused for a moment to let the words sink in. “You should be happy brother. You were happy with Persephone, but she wasn’t happy with you. Kaitlyn will be happy with you, I hope you can be happy with her too.” After those words she walked past her bother and climbed the stairs he had just walked down. She opened the wooden front door and she shook her head when she noticed the same chaos Hades had already tried to ignore.

He buried his hands in his hair. He was not sure what to think of Aphrodite’s idea and he was for sure not certain if it was the smartest thing to do. If he would ask Athena she would most likely say it was not the smartest thing to do, if she wouldn’t say it was the stupidest thing he could do. But what did his heart say? What did his heart want?

He tried to listen closely. He really tried to focus on his thoughts, on his wishes, on his longings. And eventually his feet started carrying him towards Kaitlyn’s apartment.

Hopefully she wouldn’t freak out when she would hear the truth. And hopefully they would figure out a way to make this work or to at least give themselves the chance to figure out if this could work. And this time for real.


	17. Chapter 16

 

Hades took a deep breath while he stood still in front of her door. The sun was now already brightening the entire campus and somehow he feared that Kaitlyn had fallen on her bed and was now fest asleep. If she was asleep, he didn’t want to disturb her. He had already damaged her enough for one night after all. But somehow he couldn’t bring himself to turn around and go home either. He was afraid that Aphrodite would be waiting for him and would ask him how his conversation with Kaitlyn had been. He was not exactly keen on having to explain her that he had decided to turn around because he was afraid Kaitlyn had fallen asleep.

The door of the house opened when a few students left to get a cup of warm coffee before their morning classes would begin. They greeted him politely and one of them even held the door open for him so he could step inside.

The door towards Kaitlyn’s room was closed however while the leftovers from the dinner her dorm mates had had the night before were smelling in the sink.

Hades tensed all his muscles and eventually his knuckles knocked on the delicate wood. He hid his hands in the pockets of his dark black pants as soon as he had done so and he counted the seconds that passed.

“I already thought you wouldn’t show up anymore.” Kaitlyn was wearing a comfortable shirt and a pair of short pants. Her prosthetic was removed and the stump of her leg was clearly visible. “I shouldn’t let you in, since you’ve warned me a thousand times that you were going to hurt me and I didn’t listen to it, but I assume you’re here so you can apologise to me?” She cocked her head and curled her fingers around the doorpost to make sure she kept herself stable. “I had to take my leg off by the way. I was standing on it all night already and it started to itch and burn a little. After a good night and day of sleep, I’m certain that will pass again.” She shrugged and then she hopped back to let him in.

“I’m here to tell you something that you will most likely not believe, but I do hope that you give me the chance to explain it until the bitter end.” Hades walked past her and he sat down in one of the comfortable chairs while he watched Kaitlyn hopping toward the edge of her bed.

“If this is going to be a very lame excuse for the way you treated me, I don’t want to hear it I think.” Kaitlyn tucked a strand of her bright red hair behind her ear and avoided his glance. “You’ve been telling me for weeks that you were not interested in becoming friends, that you weren’t a good friend, that you weren’t sure about staying here. But I thought that since you were going to that ball and since you were becoming a member of that fraternity things had changed. I thought that you had decided to stay and that maybe we had a chance. That was my fault. I shouldn’t have thought that and then you wouldn’t have been able to hurt me.”

Hades kept silent for a moment and he swallowed a few times before he walked towards her and reached for her hands. “I’m to blame for everything I have said and for everything I have done. I kept on telling myself and you that it was unfair to play with your heart and your emotions and I kept on begging Aphrodite and Athena to not force me to spend any more time with you, but…”

Kaitlyn had her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows furrowed. “Who are Aphrodite and Athena?” She cocked her head slightly. Her voice, already damaged by the party and the amount of alcohol she had probably drank, was barely a whisper.

“That’s part of what I was going to tell you and I fear it is also part of what you are not going to believe. I promise that I won’t blame you for anything. I understand that what I am about to tell you is a lot to take in and even harder to actually understand.” Hades sat down on his knees in front of her and he looked up so his eyes met hers. “Let me tell you the whole story. You’ve deserved my honesty and in return I will promise you that I will accept anything you decide after you’ve heard me out.”

Kaitlyn nodded. Her hands were sweating and she swallowed a few times before Hades eventually started to find the right words to tell her everything.

“I’m not Aiden Douglas, a very promising student who wants to study Ancient Greek and Roman studies.” He cleared his throat and tightened his grip on her hands. “My sister is not Mary Durwin. My other sister is not Sophia Pratt.” He paused for another moment. “We are Gods.” Now he said it oud loud it sounded even more ridiculous than he had already feared it would sound. “Sophia is the goddess of wisdom and you might know her as Athena. Mary is the goddess of love and you might know her as Aphrodite.” He stopped once more and knew her question before she even asked it.

“And you are?” There was barely anything left of her voice now and Hades shove a little closer towards her.

“Hades, the God of the underworld.” He tried to keep on looking at her, even though it was very tempting to look away and to avoid her glance. “I came here because one of the brightest and smartest souls that has ever lived has managed to find a way out of my world.” He rolled his eyes at his own phrasing. He sounded like he was telling a story to a child.

Kaitlyn was not a child. She was a grown up woman who knew how to take care of herself and who was far from stupid.

“I never planned on staying on earth. I feel at home in my underworld, in my kingdom. As soon as find Odysseus’ soul I will return there and will stay there for the next four millennia.” He shook his head. “I had not interest in being anything like my siblings. I had no interest in doing what I hate so much from Zeus.” Hades had to breath once more. “I did not realise that by not wanting to become like him I did something that was maybe even worse.”

Kaitlyn said nothing for a few seconds, a few minutes, maybe even ten minutes or longer. She was simply staring at Hades and she was clearly trying to come up with something to say, with a way to react to everything he had just told her. “Why are you telling me all this? If you are the God of the underworld and if you are going back, what does it change for me to know this?”

Hades cocked his head and he moved even closer towards her, even though he doubted if that was even possible. “I don’t know anymore if I want to go back to the underworld. I don’t even know for sure anymore if it’s still that important to find Odysseus.” He said the words before he had gotten the chance to realise that he had been thinking them. “When I asked my brother Zeus for help, he told me that I should simply let it go. It was my stubbornness that went after Odysseus anyway and I was glad that my sister was helping me to restore my honour.”

Kaitlyn pushed herself a little forward and she stared straight into his eyes as if she was attempting to look straight into his soul. “How can I know for sure that you speak the truth? How can you prove that you’re the God of the underworld? That you’re Hades? How can I know that all you tell me is real and not some made up story by a drunk guy who realised that he has ruined everything he had with a nice girl?” She cocked her head and took another deep breath. “I want to believe you. I want to believe that you’re Hades and that you simply pushed me away because you were afraid of having to leave me again, because you were afraid that I would get my heart broken once you were done here on earth.” She let a tear escape and it rolled down her cheek leaving a trail of salted water. “Do you know why I want to believe that?” She wiped the tear away herself and bent her head to stare at her feet. “I want to believe that because I like you, because that means I might be able to forgive you, because that means that you were not the horrible person I started to think you were. It means that you’re far from a horrible person, actually.”

Hades pushed himself up to wipe some more tears from her cheeks. “I can ask Aphrodite to show you some of her tricks? I am afraid that mine don’t do much here above the surface and although I would love to show you my domain, I am afraid that the only way to get there is dying, which is something I hope you won’t do for at least another seventy years.”

Kaitlyn curled her lips up into a smile. “I would love to see some of Aphrodite’s tricks, but I think I already saw them.” She rolled her eyes as if all of a sudden everything made sense. “Do you remember how I told you about all those things that happened to her? How she was always lucky? How she always got VIP tickets to concerts? How the most amazing dreams came true when she was anywhere near?”

Hades nodded.

“That’s because she’s the Goddess of love. That’s because she’s a Goddess. That’s because what she does is making the impossible happen.” Kaitlyn’s smile brightened even. “I think she might have brought us together too. I know that she and I were already friends before she came here with you, but if she had not been my friend we wouldn’t have met either.”

Hades furrowed his eyebrows at her last comment.

More than once Aphrodite had said that he would find what he was looking for, but she had never stated that it was Odysseus, even though he had always assumed that was what she meant. She had been the one introducing him to Kaitlyn. She had assured him that he would like her. She had made sure that they kept on going on dates together. She was the one forcing him to ask Kaitlyn to the ball. She had been playing a game all this time and she had been playing it well.

All of a sudden Hades doubted if Odysseus was even here on this campus. All of a sudden he wondered if Odysseus had found the way out all on his own.

Months ago Aphrodite had met this girl and it seemed that somehow she had decided that this girl was the perfect fit for her brother. And although he hated to admit it, he knew that she had been right.

Kaitlyn was the perfect fit for him. She was strong and independent. She wanted to have him and needed him in her life, but she could also live perfectly fine without him. She wanted to be with him and was angry when he hurt her, but she had not drowned herself in any way, had not gotten in any danger. She was everything he wanted her to be and even a lot more.

“Kaitlyn?” Hades cleared his throat and shook his head once more while he stood up. He gestured her to come and stand up too and he held out his hands to show her that she could lean on him, that he would hold her, that there was no way anything would happen to her under his watch. “I have no idea how we will make this work. I have no idea how we will solve this problem about me being needed in the underworld and about you being human, but I do know that I want to try to be your boyfriend, I want to see if maybe what I feel right now can last forever, I want to know if you’re love for me will survive the test of time.”

“We can do it like Persephone did it.” Kaitlyn bent her head. Her cheeks were glowing bright red and the palms of her hands were sweating. “You invite me over for dinner, I refuse to eat, but eventually I eat a few parts of a pomgrenate and than Zeus decides that I have to stay a month for each part I ate and…”

Hades placed a finger on her lips. “We can’t do that, even though that would indeed be a solution I was willing to try out.” He whispered and he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her closer towards him without letting the other hand go. “But Persephone was a goddess and you are only human. That does not make any difference to me. You are absolutely perfect the way you are and I wouldn’t want you to be anyone else, but it does mean that you can not enter the underworld unless you die.” He started rocking her back and forth in his arms. “I can not invite you for dinner. You can not eat a few seeds of a pomegranate and you can not stay for a couple of months and then return to your regular life on earth.” He paused for a moment and he let his cheek touch hers. “But we can do this the other way round.” He leaned back a little so he could look into her eyes. “I will spend one week in the underworld, to rule my kingdom and to talk to the souls that need my advice or guidance or judgment. I will decide who will be rewarded and who will be punished. I will spend the next week with you, here on earth, as a student studying Ancient Greek and Roman culture.”

Kaitlyn opened her mouth and shook her head in utter disbelief.

“If at any point any of us believes that this is no longer working. If you’re no longer in love with me or if I’m no longer in love with you, we can return to the original plan. I will no longer spend any time on this earth and you will move on with your life as if I’ve never been there.”

Kaitlyn locked her glance with his for a moment and eventually she nodded. “Sounds like we’ve got nothing to lose.” She cocked her head and swallowed. “I can get my heart broken, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

Hades raised his eyebrows a little and he held his breath while Kaitlyn closed her eyes and her nose brushed his. He had not kissed anyone but Persephone in his life. He had not even held anyone but her like this, but he was in the middle of taking a leap of faith anyway. He wanted to take it to the absolute fullest. He tightened his grip on her and when her lips touched his he closed his eyes too.

Her lips were soft and tasted like the toothpaste she had just used to get rid of the alcohol smell. Her lips parted at the same time as he opened his mouth and slowly and tenderly their tongues started to play with each other.

All of a sudden time was nothing but an illusion. Maybe the kiss lasted only a few seconds. Maybe it were minutes. But it could also be hours or days. The world around them was nothing but a big blur. A vague cacophony of colours and sound.

Maybe one day Hades would find Odysseus, either because he would get some lead or by accident. And if not, the escaped soul would end on his doorstep anyway. And since Hades had found what Aphrodite wanted him to have, he doubted if anyone else or Odysseus himself could ever repeat his little magic trick. And even if Odysseus could get access to a third life, Hades wouldn’t be bothered by it too much anymore.

Odysseus was only one soul. Maybe the smartest soul that had ever existed, but not the most important one. And for sure not the most important one to Hades.


	18. Epilogue

 

She was nervous. She was more nervous than she would ever admit. She didn’t blame herself for being nervous. Even though she was a hundred percent sure that this was what she wanted, it still felt like a big thing, a huge step.

Actually, it was a big thing and a huge step. This was the point of no return. There was no going back anymore if she would really do this.

She turned her head towards Hades.

Even though five years had passed ever since they had met, he still didn’t look a day older. He never would. He would always be this handsome, this charismatic, this amazing, this young.

And after today, she would too. No, she wouldn’t become a Goddess. She couldn’t become a Goddess, not even if she wanted to.

Hades had told her at least a million times already that if he could turn her immortal, if he could make it possible for her to live both on earth and in the underworld, he would do it. But he couldn’t. He didn’t have the power to do that.

And even his brother Zeus could only do so if she did something extraordinary, if she became a hero, if she would complete a task that everyone considered impossible. She was not a life saver. She was not a fighter. She was more of a thinker. After all, she had completed three studies and she had even juggled a few jobs that combined all the things she had learned over the years. But she was ready now. She was totally ready to leave this world behind and to become the Queen by his side.

Hades was ready for it too. He didn’t say it with that many words, but he was clearly still not ease among humans, on earth. He was the King of the Underworld and every other week he spent time with her outside his natural habitat. He was happy with her, but he was not happy with the life he was forced to live. Not that he had ever told her that.

And therefore this moment, this decision was hers and only hers. She had decided to die today. She had decided that she wanted to live in his world for the rest of her life.

It was going to happen sooner or later anyway. Every day people got hit by cars or caught a horrible disease. Or people simply died because of old age.

Yes, she could have been one of those people dying of old age and she knew that Hades wouldn’t have complained about it for a second. But she didn’t want to look like an old grandma on the throne next to his. And she for sure couldn’t imagine their relationship in sixty years, when he was still this young and beautiful God and she would be old and wrinkled.

Hades had asked for at least a thousand times if she was sure about this, if this was what she wanted. He had learned from Persephone. He didn’t want to lock Kaitlyn up. He didn’t want to cage her. He didn’t want to make his own happiness more important than hers.

Some people, especially his own family, called him boring.

She was glad he was the way he was. She had lived her life to the fullest. She had finished her studies and when she had wanted to stay in to finish a few reports, he had simply laid on the bed to read a book. When she had been asked to become a member of a sorority and had said no, Hades had been the only one who had understood and supported her.

And when Aphrodite had dumped Nicholas, shattering his heart into a thousand pieces, Hades had assured her that he was still not planning on doing anything like that to her.

“If you have second thoughts or doubt if this is a good idea, you can still change your mind now.” Hades reached for both her hands. They were surrounded by trees blown by the wind.

A few months ago Persephone had all of a sudden shown up at their doorstep. She had heard that Hades had finally moved on, that he had a new girlfriend, that he had someone else to love. She had not been jealous or angry. She had not felt betrayed. She had been happy. Happy and relieved that she no longer had to feel guilty about leaving her husband behind without explaining herself very well. She had stayed for tea and when the sun had set she had smiled. “I’m happy for the two of you. I’m happy that you found him and even more happy that he found you.”

Kaitlyn had actually kinda liked her. Especially because Persephone had not even tried to warn her, had not told her not to do this. On the contrary. Persephone had been the one assuring Kaitlyn that if she loved Hades this much, she should become the Queen she deserved to be.

“I don’t have any doubts, Hades.” Now they were only surrounded by birds and bees she could let his real name roll of her tongue out loud without needing to be afraid that someone would hear it. “I want this. I want to be your Queen. I want to be your wife.”

Hades pressed the palm of his hand to her cheek and he leaned forward to kiss her lips. “I hope you’ll like your new home. If there is anything you need, want or desire, please feel always free to let me know. If it is something I can easily arrange for you, I will make sure you’ll have it.” He stepped back and Kaitlyn nodded.

“I think that for now I have everything I need.” She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his. “Let’s go. Show me my new home.” She spoke softly and took a deep breath before she opened her eyes again. “I want to see the world I’ll be ruling.”

Hades smiled a bright smile. “You’ll be a wonderful ruler.” He softened his voice. “My Queen.”


End file.
